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Asia Cup: Pakistan have to negotiate tricky Hong Kong

Pakistan left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz is confident that the team can get it done against Hong Kong

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Pakistan's Naseem Shah (left), who suffered cramps in the game against India, is fit to play against Hong Kong. (AP)
by

James Jose

Published: Thu 1 Sep 2022, 10:40 PM

Every cricket fan worth their salt, are talking about the prospect of another blockbuster India-Pakistan fixture in the Super Four stage of the DP World Asia Cup on Sunday night.

And while, they think it is a given, Pakistan are not there just yet and have to negotiate a tricky Hong Kong in their final Group A match at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Friday night, to make it there.

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Pakistan left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz is confident that the team can get it done against Hong Kong.

“It was a competitive game (against India),” Nawaz said at the ICC Academy.

“The team morale is high despite the loss because of the way we fought in a low-scoring game (against India on Sunday). We kept it tight till the end. The boys are confident going into the next game against Hong Kong. And we are hopeful of doing well there and in the future games,” he added.

Nawaz didn’t want to look too far ahead but said that if they do get to play India on Sunday, he is confident that they can turn the tables.

“The way the first match happened, players have got a lot of confidence. We won against them in the T20 World Cup and the morale is high. And if we play them again (on Sunday), we will try to give our best in that game. We are quite confident about that,” said Nawaz.

Casualty list

Pakistan’s bowling attack has been hit by injuries with pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi already on the sidelines, while there is an injury cloud over the young Naseem Shah, who had suffered cramps in the game against India. But Nawaz said it was just cramps and was nothing serious.

“Shaheen is obviously injured but I don’t think there is a major problem with Naseem Shah. It was because of the extreme weather conditions that he had cramps. Otherwise, he is absolutely fit and hopefully you will see him in the next game,” he said.

Spinners playing a major role

Nawaz said that the pitch in Dubai is assisting spinners and they have a huge role to play in the tournament.

“The responsibility increases on the spinners. As it is, spinners have a major role to play, especially in Dubai, so spinners do have a huge role to play because we need to get wickets in the middle overs. So, we are preparing accordingly,” Nawaz said.

Bowling the last over

Nawaz was called on to bowl the last over against India, a move which was unusual but was forced upon because Naseem Shah had suffered cramps earlier. Nawaz said he had bowled the last over twice previously in international cricket.

“As a spinner it is a bit difficult to bowl the last over. Usually, you don’t see a spinner bowling the last over but I have bowled the last over twice before. So, I was confident in my abilities. But, if we had a few runs more to defend, things could have been different. But it didn’t happen the way we wanted it to be,” he said.

“It wasn’t decided earlier that I will bowl the last over. The match situation was such that there was a right-left combination so the decision to bowl me was delayed. But having delayed it and with the fast bowlers suffering with cramps, it so happened that it got quite a bit delayed. And the situation was such that I had to bowl the last over,” added Nawaz.

Today's match

Pakistan vs Hong Kong

Sharjah Cricket Stadium

6 pm UAE Time

James Jose

Published: Thu 1 Sep 2022, 10:40 PM

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