Asia Cup 2022: 3 Pacers who might replace Shaheen Afridi in the squad of Pakistan

Pakistan has a major blow just before the commencement of the Asia Cup 2022 as the pace bowling spearhead Shaheen Afridi has been ruled out of the tournament. He sustained a knee injury couple of weeks back during the Test series against Sri Lanka. He also missed the second Test of that series against Sri Lanka.

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Skipper Babar Azam and the team management are now quite concerned about the replacement of the talented pacer in the squad. There are a couple of names flashing in the media who are being considered as possible replacements for Afridi in the continental tournament. Notably, Pakistan will start their campaign in the tournament against the arch-rivals India on the 28^th of August without having Shaheen in the squad.

So, here we’ll have a look at three pacers who might replace Afridi in squad of Pakistan during the Asia Cup 2022.

Hassan Ali

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The 28-year-old senior pacer has played a lot of matches for the Pakistani side in major international tournaments. He has a good experience of bowling in pressure situations for the team and rescuing from delicate notes in crucial matches. He also played a pivotal role in Pakistan’s win in the 2017 Champions Trophy final against India.

Considering his experience and records in the T20 internationals, the management and skipper might think of including him in the squad for the Asia Cup 2022. Speaking about his record in the shortest format of the game, then Hassan Ali has scalped 60 wickets in 49 T20I matches of his six-year-long career in the international circuit for Pakistan.

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Mir Hamza

The talented pacer from Karachi made his first international appearance for Pakistan four years back in 2018 against Australia in Abu Dhabi. He has played only Test for the national side of Pakistan in his international career. Apart from that, Mir Hamza has an experience of almost a decade in the first-class and domestic circuit of Pakistan.

The right-arm pacer has scalped 41 and 110 wickets respectively in domestic T20Is and list-a competitions in Pakistan. He could be a first choice for the management as he is also a left-arm pacer and probably a like-to-like replacement for Shaheen Afridi in the Asia Cup 2022.

Sadaf Hussain

Another pace bowling sensation from Punjab. Although Sadaf is still waiting for his international debut for Pakistan, apart from that, he has excellent stats in the domestic circuit. The 32-year-old pacer has played only four T20 matches in the domestic circuit. Other than that, he has scalped 415 wickets in first-class cricket alongside 139 wickets in list-a in his 13-year-long domestic career.

Sadaf Hussain might also be vital for the men in green as a replacement for the 22-year-old injured pacer. Skipper Babar Azam and the management might count on him for the important encounters during the Asia Cup 2022.