WORLD T20

KARACHI: After eight long years of struggle and a consistent trend of getting in and out of the team, Mohammad Sami seems to have learned his lesson as he has started producing match-winning efforts with the ball.

Cricket fans would still remember heroics of this fast bowler in the Sydney Test earlier in the year, where he broke the strong top order of the Aussies at their backyard. Since then, he has been in the limelight for winning back his position in the team.

The hard work, put in by the fast bowler over the years, paid him dividends in the game against Bangladesh Saturday when he produced the magical spell of bowling in the death overs, thus giving Pakistan just the right kind of start in the ICC World Twenty20.

Sami grabbed three crucial wickets in the match at a juncture of time when two of Bangladesh’s most prolific batsmen were cruising along and threatening to defeat Pakistan at Saint Lucia.

The sparkling performance by the fast bowler, who is gradually making his mark at the international level in a bid to cement his place in the national side, clearly indicates how much the talent Pakistan has in the fast bowling department.

Moreover, it also shows the amount of confidence that skipper Shahid Khan Afridi has on Sami as according to sources, Afridi wanted Sami in the initially announced squad by the selection committee of the Pakistan Cricket Board, led by Mohsin Hasan Khan.

Sources said Saturday that Shahid Khan Afridi preferred Mohammad Sami on the Mr Reliable fast bowler Mohammad Asif in the first game of the T20 title defence campaign. And how professionally this bullock has responded, it was witnessed by the whole world.

Posted On : Sunday, May 02, 2010