Naseem Shah plays role in Pakistan’s World Cup campaign despite being injured
Naseem was ruled out of the mega event due to a shoulder injury
Pakistan pacer Mohammad Wasim Jr has revealed that injured speedster Naseem Shah played a role in Pakistan’s campaign during the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023 in India.
While speaking in a video released by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Wednesday, Wasim said that Naseem’s tips proved helpful in matches against South Africa and Bangladesh.
“We are definitely missing Naseem Shah. I spoke to Naseem before Pakistan’s match against South Africa as well as Bangladesh. He advised me about how to bowl on these pitches which helped me. Naseem’s tips were really helpful for me,” said Wasim.
Wasim has picked five wickets in two matches of the ongoing World Cup. He bagged figures of 2-50 against South Africa and 3-31 against Bangladesh.
Hasan Ali had replaced Naseem in Pakistan’s squad for the World Cup. Naseen suffered a shoulder injury at the Asia Cup 2023 and is expected to stay on the sidelines for a long period of time.
It must be noted that South Africa defeated New Zealand by 190 runs in the 32nd match of the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023 in Pune on Wednesday which aided Pakistan’s cause during the mega event.
Proteas' win has given slight help to Pakistan chances since Babar Azam and Co's road to the semi-final of the World Cup remains difficult with many hurdles in between.
As it is essential for Pakistan to win their remaining matches, in an ideal scenario, the Green Shirts should beat New Zealand in the next game and hope Black Caps lose to Sri Lanka.
If the Black Caps lose their matches, they'd end the group stage with eight points, and Pakistan can qualify for the knockout stage with 10 points should they beat their next two opponents.
Pakistan’s remaining ICC World Cup 2023 matches
November 4 - vs New Zealand Bengaluru (Day match)
November 11 - vs England in Kolkata
The day matches which will start at 10:00am Pakistan Standard Time (PST) while all other matches will be day-night fixtures starting at 01:30pm (PST).
If Pakistan qualify for the semi-finals, they will play in Kolkata.
If India qualify for the semi-finals, they will play in Mumbai unless playing against Pakistan, in which case they will play in Kolkata.
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