COLOMBO: Pakistan bowling coach Morne Morkel on Wednesday said injuries to their premier quicks is a big blow ahead of a must-win Asia Cup match but a “fantastic opportunity” for up-and-coming talent.
Naseem Shah has been ruled out of the team’s final Super Four match — effective semifinal — against Sri Lanka in Colombo on Thursday, with Pakistan Super League star Zaman Khan coming in as replacement.
Naseem and fellow quick Haris Rauf were injured in the team’s previous Super Four clash of the 50-over tournament, a prelude to the upcoming ODI World Cup.
“A big blow, picking up those little niggles, but in this same sort of thing what a fantastic opportunity for the guys coming in,” Morkel told reporters.
“After going down against India, it’s a must-win game for us come tomorrow and I’m quite excited to see the new guys stepping in, to see their character, to see how they respond.”
Zaman flew in from Pakistan and is already a popular name in national cricket after his heroics in this year’s PSL for champions Lahore Qalandars.
The 22-year-old is expected to make his ODI debut in a high-pressure match.
“I’m excited just to work with him, connect with them and build that relationship and help him develop, because he’s a match winner,” Morkel said of the quick who won defended 13 runs of his last over to star in Lahore’s title defense this season.
Shaheen Shah Afridi leads the Pakistan pace attack that rattled India in the Asia Cup group match, which was washed out after just innings.
But Shaheen and company took a hammering in their last meeting with India, who posted 356-2 in a match played across two days due to rain.
Morkel said the 228-run loss to India has been good learning ahead of the 50-over showpiece event where they will meet the arch-rivals on October 14.
“Those are fantastic learnings for us,” said Morkel, who rated Shaheen as “world-class.”
“The more tough situations we can face leading into the World Cup, that’s brilliant. You know, we’re gonna grow from this and then come back stronger.”
Critics have pointed at Pakistan’s lack of quality spinners, a major drawback on turning Sri Lankan wickets, but Morkel insists the slow bowlers remain ready to perform.
The former South African fast bowler, who played 86 Tests, 117 ODIs and 44 T20 matches for his 544 international wickets, has been seen bowling to the Pakistan batsmen in the nets.
Pakistan look to ‘match-winner’ Zaman after Naseem injury blow
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Pakistan look to ‘match-winner’ Zaman after Naseem injury blow
- Pakistan face Sri Lanka on Thursday in a must-win Asia Cup clash in Colombo
- Pacers Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf were injured in Monday’s match against India
Alonso fears more pain in China with struggling Aston Martin
- Fernando Alonso said Thursday he expects another difficult weekend wrestling with his new Aston Martin at the Chinese Grand Prix after failing to finish the season-opener in Australia
SHANGHAI: Fernando Alonso said Thursday he expects another difficult weekend wrestling with his new Aston Martin at the Chinese Grand Prix after failing to finish the season-opener in Australia.
Silverstone-based Aston Martin endured a horror start after serious issues with their Honda power unit and a lack of spare parts.
Two-time world champion Alonso and teammate Lance Stroll had to endure extreme vibration in the chassis caused by the power unit, which was feared could cause the drivers permanent nerve damage.
“The situation unfortunately didn’t change within four or five days since Melbourne, so it will be a difficult weekend,” Alonso told reporters at the Shanghai International Circuit.
“We’ll limit the laps in one or two sessions as we are short on parts. We need laps, to find the window on the chassis side.
“I’ll be happy if we leave China with a more or less normal practice, more or less normal qualifying.”
The Spaniard could not put a timeframe on when improvements might come.
“What can I do within the team? Work harder, help Honda as much as I can,” said Alonso.
“We can allocate resources to help Honda with the power unit. We are one team, it is a bumpy start that I hope won’t last too long.
“We are pushing, we have very talented people in the team, so I hope within a couple of grands prix, we can have a normal weekend.
“To be competitive will take more time. Once we fix the reliability, we will be behind on power and things.”
The 44-year-old veteran has been in Formula One for more than two decades and has driven vastly different iterations of cars from the old V10 petrol engines through to the current complex hybrid configuration.
Despite the issues he said was embracing the challenge of the new cars enthusiastically in what could be his final season on the grid.
His Aston Martin contract expires at the end of 2026.
“Do we enjoy driving these cars? Yes, because we love racing,” Alonso said.
“I do four or five 24-hour races because I love racing and I love driving. So if you jump into an F1 car, you enjoy going fast.
“But it is a challenge, a different challenge.
“I was super lucky to race in (the last) era and I feel lucky to race in both.”
