Shaheen Afridi needs to have a Plan B for Shubman Gill: Wasim Akram

Former Pakistan pacer and commentator Wasim Akram has opened up on Shaheen Shah Afridi’s plan against the Indian batters ahead of their Super Four clash on Sunday, September 21, in Dubai.

Speaking exclusively on Sony Sports Network, Akram has asserted that Afridi needs to develop a Plan B against batters like Shubman Gill to get early wickets and change the game on its head for his side.

“That’s what I want Shaheen Afridi to do early on, because the whole world now knows the plan against him. They say, ‘Okay, he’ll be bowling yorkers first up.’ So Afridi needs to have a Plan B. This is the length he should be bowling," Wasim Akram said.

Furthermore, Akram also noted that though he is fine with one-off yorkers, bowling consecutive yorker lengths might make the bowler predictable, and also if he misses one, the ball might travel to the boundary ropes.

"I’m fine with one-off yorkers, but not two or three consecutive ones, because if he misses even one, it’s going for a boundary with only two fielders outside the circle. He ends up putting pressure on himself. I know he thinks he’s being attacking and going for wickets, but mixing it up with length balls is better. One yorker, yes — but not straightaway, and not every ball,” he added.

With India topping the points table in Group A, they have qualified for the Super Four stage alongside Pakistan. Later, they will take on Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the Super Four round. The top two sides in this round will head to the grand finale.

Team India squad: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.

Pakistan squad: Salman Ali Agha (c), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jr., Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Afridi, Sufyan Moqim.

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