Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra believes Pakistan’s bowling is their weak link heading into their 2023 World Cup clash against Bangladesh. However, the match will be played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday, October 31. While the Pakistan team have won just two of their six games thus far, the Bengal Tigers have registered only a solitary victory so far as well.
Previewing the game in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said: “The Pakistan openers have started scoring runs. Babar Azam has also scored runs. Mohammad Rizwan had also scored runs, the wagon has fallen off track a little, or else he was in the highest run-getters list. Iftikhar Ahmed and Saud Shakeel have also scored runs.”
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The former Indian opener added: “They are a decent team but bowling has been extremely weak. Shaheen is still a wicket-taker, he picked up a five-wicket haul as well, but who apart from him? Haris Rauf is not bowling that well. Mohammad Wasim was played in the last match and he bowled decently. Spin is going extremely ordinary.”
However, Shaheen Shah Afridi (13) is Pakistan’s leading wicket-taker in the tournament. Although Haris Rauf has picked up 10 wickets, he has conceded an average of 6.82 runs per over as well. None of their spinners have done well so far as well. Meanwhile, Aakash Chopra feels Bangladesh’s batting is their bigger concern as well.
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“The way Bangladesh played the last match, they are playing extremely ordinarily. They bowl decently but in batting – Litton Das has played one-and-a-half good knocks – he started well against India and I think he played well in Dharamsala. You can forget about (Najmul Hossain) Shanto. Tanzid (Hasan) has played one or two good knocks. Shakib (Al Hasan) hasn’t played a single good knock thus far. Mushfiqur (Rahim) did play two or three good knocks at the start but he is also stumbling slightly now. Mahmudullah struck a century but they have kept him at No. 7,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
