In their opening exhibition game for the ICC World Cup 2023, Pakistan fell to New Zealand by a score of five wickets on Friday in Hyderabad, India.
While batting first, the Green Shirts amassed 345 runs, but it wasn’t enough to defeat the Black Caps, who reached the mark in just 43.4 overs.
Why didn’t Shaheen and Shadab bowl when Pakistan played New Zealand?
The overall performance of the Babar Azam-led team raised concerns over its inability to defend the target, as Pakistani bowlers fell short of expectations.
Everyone was taken aback by the fact that two of Pakistan’s key players, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shadab Khan, failed to bowl even a single over.
However, sources claim that the club management’s plan did not include using both bowlers.
According to the sources, the idea was to offer the bowlers who haven’t bowled much lately additional match practice.
The management intends to acclimate the players and help them adapt to the playing conditions, according to the sources, thus all 15 members of the squad will be tested in the warm-up games.
The Green Shirts will play Australia on October 3 in their second exhibition game before facing the Netherlands on October 6 to start their World Cup campaign.
