Pakistan National Cricket Team’s bowling attack has been severely affected following Naseem Shah’s injury, according to former India wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik. The right-arm pacer sustained the injury during the Asia Cup 2023 and has been ruled out of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. As a result, the pace duties primarily come down to Haris Rauf and Shaheen Afridi.

While Afridi is a wonderful exponent of the new ball, Dinesh Karthik has rated Rauf as one of the best bowlers in the world, especially in the death overs. However, Haris Rauf didn’t have an auspicious time with the ball during the warm-up games. He gave 97 runs in nine overs against Australia having an economy rate of 10.8 in the warm-up fixture.

Haris Rauf was also looking out of touch in Pakistan’s first warm-up game against New Zealand, where he gave 36 runs in four overs and went wicketless. Haris Rauf has been struggling with his economy since landing in India. He will have to adapt to the Indian conditions soon so that Pakistan can rely on the two pacers to take wickets. However, Dinesh Karthik was all praise for Haris Rauf even after the pacer’s nightmarish start to the warm-ups.

Dinesh Karthik Picks Haris Rauf As The Best Bowler

“Haris Rauf is one of the best bowlers in the world, especially in the death overs. He has good variations and a very sharp bouncer, and whenever Shaheen Afridi has not managed to pick up wickets upfront, he is the one who has taken wickets in the middle,” Dinesh Karthik said.

“He is one of the few bowlers in world cricket who consistently strikes in the middle. He has it in him to pick a lot of wickets in this tournament,” he added.

Naseem Shah’s injury has hampered the Pakistani pace attack and the responsibility falls on Haris Rauf and Shaheen Shah Afridi. Time will tell the effect of Naseem Shah’s absence in the lineup and Pakistan will have to cope without one of their star pacers in batting-friendly Indian conditions.

Pakistan will kick off their World Cup campaign against the Netherlands on 6th October in Hyderabad, and they will look forward to winning most of their initial matches to get a strong base to qualify for the semi-finals. They will face arch-rivals India on 14th October in Ahmedabad and they will look forward to ending their losing streak against India in ICC World Cups.

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