Can Anwar Ali cement his place in the Pakistan team? - Opinion
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced the 16-man squad for the upcoming One Day International (ODI) series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Umar-Gul-c94604, in their bid to prepare
a team for the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 Cricket World Cup 2015.
One notable inclusion in the side has been Karachi’s 24-year-old fast-medium bowler, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Anwar-Ali-c45231, who has been selected in the 50-overs format for the very first time.
The right-armer has so far played just one T20 International for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zimbabwe-c3045, bowling two expensive overs to be ignored later on.
Anwar came through the ranks of junior cricket in the country, representing Pakistan in the ICC Under-19 World Cup 2006, played in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758. The right-arm new ball bowler played a massive role in his team’s success in the tournament, picking up 15 wickets
in six matches at an average of 12.66 runs per wicket.
The cricketer from Karachi bowled a match-winning spell in the final of the tournament against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750, grabbing five scalps after conceding 35 runs in his nine overs, to be named as the Player of the Match. The right-armer impressed one and all with his ability
to drastically swing the ball in the air.
The budding cricketer does not have enough speed to trouble the batsmen, but he depends on swing to succeed in competitive cricket. In an interview to
Pakpassion in 2009, Anwar had expressed that he has an ideal bowling action to curl the bowl in towards batsmen, which has been his forte over the years.
However, he is confident about out-swing bowling as well and credited the former Pakistan bowling coach, Aaqib Javed, for his game’s development.
"A bowlers action affects the type of swing he gets and my action is suitable for in-swinging deliveries, it is my natural delivery and I concentrate on that but I have also worked hard on the out-swinger, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Aaqib-Javed-c41431 has worked a lot with me on the out-swinger,"
said Anwar.
The swing bowler has so far picked up 221 wickets in the 60 first-class matches he has played so far, at an average of 27.27 runs per victim. On top of that, the youngster is more than handy with the bat, having scored a century and three fifties in the
game’s four-day version.
The selectors are hoping that the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Adam-John-Crosthwaite-c41922 cricketer will be able to become a world-class all-rounder in the coming years.
The left-arm fast bowler from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Iqbal-Qasim-c76980, who believes that the 23-year-old cricketer needs more grooming in the domestic circuit.
The former left-arm spinner feels that Anwar has been doing brilliantly in the national scene over the years, deservingly replacing Rahat in the ODI squad.
"The selectors have decided to drop http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Rahat-Ali-c83301, who needs more grooming and he is a future prospect, while Anwar Ali has been in the pipeline for quite a long time," Qasim expressed. "He has been included to get some confidence and much-needed exposure."
It looks unlikely that Anwar will be able to find a place in the playing-11 in the three matches; however, now that the selectors have shown confidence in his abilities, the medium-fast bowler should be given a proper chance to showcase his skills.
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