Srinagar: Pakistan opener Abdullah Shafique has said that Pakistan batters aren’t worried about return of Team India pacer Jasprit Bumrah as thet regularly face likes of Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah in the nets.
The India and Pakistan sides are set to resume their rivalry in the Asia Cup 2023.
While Bumrah recovered from a back injury and will make a comeback in the T20I series against Ireland, Shami and Siraj, who were absent during the recently concluded ODIs against West Indies, are expected to bolster India’s formidable bowling arsenal.
Despite that, the confidence of Pakistan’s batter Abdullah Shafique remains steadfast when he was asked about the face-off against India in Asia Cup.
“You face Haris, Naseem, Shaheen in the nets all the time during practice sessions. Do you find it easy when you take on the opposition bowlers then? Particularly if you talk about India… since it looks like Jasprit Bumrah is also coming back for Asia Cup,” a reporter asked Shafique during a media interaction.
Shafique played down any challenges. “Our bowling attack is pretty good, in fact, the best in the world. We face them (Shaheen, Haris, Naseem) in the nets… we face their challenging spells. And that gives us a lot of confidence and helps in our preparation. If we are playing good against them, we are obviously more confident against opponent bowlers,” said the Pakistan youngster.
India and Pakistan meet on September 2 in Kandy, with Nepal being the third team in Group A. Both teams will also lock horns in the ODI World Cup on October 14 in Ahmedabad.