Former Pakistani cricketer Mohammad Yousuf has shared his optimistic outlook for Pakistan’s upcoming World Cup campaign and has identified six potential pacers who could make it to the squad.

Yousuf, speaking to the media in Lahore, highlighted the depth and variety in Pakistan’s fast bowling department, emphasizing the country’s wealth of options in white-ball cricket.

“We have a strong pool of pacers for the fast-bowling department. Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Wasim Jnr., Ihsanullah, and Zaman Khan are all promising options for Pakistan in white-ball cricket,” said Mohammad Yousuf.

In addition to discussing the fast bowlers, Yousuf expressed satisfaction with Pakistan’s overall team combination in limited-overs cricket.

“Our team’s combination in white-ball cricket is excellent. We have three batsmen ranked in the top ten ICC ODI rankings. Imad Wasim has made a comeback, and we have talented players like Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz. Furthermore, we have three exceptional all-rounders who are also outstanding fielders,” he added.

Yousuf further expressed his belief that Pakistan has a strong chance of winning the World Cup.

Umar Gul, who recently served as Pakistan’s interim bowling coach during the series against Afghanistan and New Zealand, also stressed the importance of retaining the successful pace attack from the ODI series against New Zealand.

“When it comes to our bowling, we should stick with the pace attack that performed well against New Zealand. Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Ihsanullah, and Mohammad Wasim Jr. are our best bowlers for the World Cup,” commented Gul.

To put it simply, the pair of Pakistan captain Babar Azam and left-handed opener Imam-ul-Haq have been performing brilliantly in ODI cricket for the past few years. The teamwork between them is truly commendable. These two batsmen scored many runs together. Currently, they have reached the record of Pakistan’s two legendary batsmen Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan. The duo of great batsmen broke the partnership record of their predecessors on Wednesday.

According to a report by Cricket Pakistan, the two young Turks achieved this feat during the third ODI against New Zealand in Karachi. After defeating the in-form Fakhar Zaman at the beginning of the innings, Babar and Imam built a partnership of 108 runs.
According to the report, Babar and Imam have completed 9 hundred runs partnerships in ODI. What Yusuf and Younis Khan did earlier. Two young batters shared that record on Wednesday.

On the other hand, Yusuf is also in third place in the hundred-run partnership list with Inzamam-ul-Haq. This pair has made 8 100-run partnerships in ODI cricket.

Former star cricketer Mohammad Yousuf is taking charge as interim coach of the Pakistan cricket team. He is being appointed as a coach for the upcoming Afghan series. Pakistan’s head coach post has been vacant since former Pakistan captain and former head coach Misbah-ul-Haq stepped down in September 2021.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) handles the head coach’s job by appointing interim coaches on a series basis. Pakistan’s legendary cricketer Saqlain Mushtaq served as the national team’s interim coach before Mohammad Yusuf. Now PCB is going to appoint Mohammad Yusuf as the interim coach. Under him, Pakistan will play a three-match T20 series with Afghanistan at the end of March. Incidentally, PCB continues to communicate with former head coach Mickey Arthur. Pakistan wants to give him the responsibility of the national team again. Under Arthur, Pakistan won the Champions Trophy by defeating India in 2017. But as Pakistan could not perform as expected in the 2019 World Cup, Mickey Arthur was dismissed.