IND vs PAK: Not Jasprit Bumrah Or Kuldeep Yadav! Mohammad Kaif Names India Bowler Who Can Stop Babar Azam

Former India National Cricket Team batter Mohammad Kaif ignored Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav as he named an Indian bowler who can stop the in-form Pakistan National Cricket Team captain Babar Azam in the upcoming high-octane clash between the arch-rivals in the Asia Cup 2023.

India National Cricket Team will open their Asia Cup campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan National Cricket Team on Saturday, September 2, in the 3rd match of the event at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Pallekele.

Speaking on Star Sports ahead of the match, Mohammad Kaif said that the veteran right-arm seamer Mohammed Shami is a fantastic bowler and he will give a lot of “difficulty” to Babar Azam.

“Mohammed Shami is a fantastic bowler, his form is also very good. And even in Bumrah’s absence, he managed the bowling very well. Even his form in the IPL was great. So he has a lot of talent. In my opinion, Babar Azam is going to have a lot of difficulty,” Kaif said on Star Sports.

Having Jassi, especially in the white-ball format, has made our bowling very strong – Mohammed Shami on Jasprit Bumrah

Talking about India’s pace battery, Mohammed Shami said that all three frontline pacers of the side – him, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammed Siraj – have been bowling very well and it will be up to the management to decide on the pace-bowling combination they will field against Pakistan.

“Depends on whether I have the new ball or whether the team requires me at any stage during the match, I’m always on. I don’t have any hesitancy to bowl with the new ball or the old ball. I don’t have an ego like that. All three of us (Bumrah, Shami & Siraj) are bowling very well, so it depends on the management on who will play. There is only one goal, to go and give our 100%, the result will come running to us if we give our 100%. So it is very important to focus and execute, it’s a very simple plan,” he said on Star Sports.

Mohammed Shami also spoke about Jasprit Bumrah’s return to cricket following an 11-month hiatus. He said that the absence of Bumrah was a blow to the Men In Blue and his return has made the bowling unit of India even stronger. He said:

“There is too much talk about the white ball or red ball, if you bowl in the right areas I don’t think that there is any difficulty in any ball. For a long time, we didn’t have Jassi (Bumrah), so we felt the loss of a good player like him. You sometimes feel like ‘I wish this player was there’, to make your combination set. So having Jassi, especially in the white-ball format, has made our bowling very strong. So you know having Jassi in the team has made us stronger, he’s looking fit and he’s playing well, hopefully, we have a good Asia Cup.”