ISLAMABAD, Former Pakistani cricketer Ramiz Raja, believes it was time to ring the alarm bells for Pakistan, as he feels it would not be a surprise if Afghanistan rolled-over Pakistan in a Twenty20 game in future.
The 58-year-old claimed that Afghanistan had talented players, such as explosive batsman Hazratullah Zazai, which makes them a dangerous opposition.
“The dangerous thing is that fans in Pakistan had not seen a lot of Hazratullah Zazai before. Afghanistan has more players like Zazai. Their bowling has also improved a lot.
“If you take the Islamabad United team as an example, it boasts three current players in the Pakistan T20 national side who bowled to Zazai, which includes Shadab Khan, who is the vice-captain of the national side. They could not do anything against Zazai. This is because Zazai has raw talent, ability and a very strong temperament. This is what makes Afghanistan so dangerous,” Raja said in a YouTube video as quoted by cricketpakistan.com.pk.
“I would not be surprised to see Afghanistan bundle Pakistan over in a T20 game. They have wrist spin, experience, they have Najib and Rashid along with excellent talent. They were just weak in the batting department but if Zazai plays this way, then they also have Zadran who we have seen anchored an innings really well in the middle overs,” he said.
The former cricketer, who scored 2,833 and 5,841 runs in 57 Tests and 198 ODIs, respectively, believed that it was time for the alarm bells to go off in Pakistan. “There should be alarm bells ringing in Pakistan.
We should also start thinking why our youngsters cannot bravely hit the ball like a player like Zazai. Why do they come under pressure? There is a need for introspection and the alarm bells should go off,” he said.
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