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Shinwari grabs opportunity with five wickets in Sharjah

Sharjah - Azhar said he was happy for Usman and liked fast bowler's hunger for wickets

It is not easy filling Mohammad Amir's shoes, but Usman Khan Shinwari did just that. The 23-year-old from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan got the opportunity as Amir was ruled out of the ODI series against Sri Lanka.
And what a performance he dished out at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Monday. His bowling figures of 7-0-34-5 knocked the stuffing out of the Sri Lankan batsmen giving Pakistan a big nine-wicket win in the fifth match to sweep the series 5-0.
Speaking to the media after his match-winning performance, he said, "This is my second match so you can say that this is my best bowling. If you notice us before the match we do complete warm up and our bowling coach tells us to attack from the first ball so that's what I did and got early wickets.
"We have 15 players in the squad so everyone wants to come in the 11 and I too try my best to get in."
Replacing Amir was not easy. "Yes, it was tough. Even my relatives were saying that I am replacing Amir so I should do well. You can't compare me with him because he is a great bowler. Unfortunately he was not here so I grabbed the opportunity," said the modest Usman.
Usman was accompanied by bowling coach Azhar Mahmood at the press conference. The former Pakistan all-rounder had played many matches against Sri Lanka and so he was asked if this was the weakest Sri Lankan team he has seen.
"No I don't think so, not a weak team. They won the Test series. But definitely after losing the second ODI I could see they went into a shell a bit and the way our bowlers performed we just simply destroyed them."
With a battery of fast bowlers at his disposal Azhar must surely have a headache as to whom to play but he thought differently.
"It's lot easier when you have talent at your disposal. We have talented bowlers like Hasan Ali, Shadab, Amir and others so that eases your job. Once they do up to their potential it's good and satisfying."
Azhar said he was happy for Usman. "I like his hunger for wickets. I watched him in the PSL when he came to play, I had not seen him before but he has delivered."
While Azhar looked a happy man, Sri Lankan captain Upul Tharanga, on the other hand, looked morose. "It was a disappointing performance, mainly from our batters. We have failed to cross 200 in four matches this series. Also we didn't answer to their bowlers.
"Batting has been our worry. It has been going on from the last 15 to 18 months. We have analysed our batting and all but when we go in the middle we don't execute our plans.
"In this series also only two batsmen passed the 75-run mark which is an indicator. As a captain I am very disappointed."
This was the third time Sri Lankan suffered a whitewash in ODIs in 2017.
clareto@khaleejtimes.com