Yasir Shah feels so bad about missing Ind-Pak World T20 clash

Current the no.6 ranked Test bowler, Yasir Shah felt bad about missing the World T20 clash against the arch-rivals India on a turning track at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata which Pakistan went on to lose.

Yasir was suspended for 3 months due to breaching ICC’s Anti-Doping Code. He came back to present Pakistan a memorable Test win at Lord’s against the hosts England.

Shah reminisced, “I felt miserable. You blame yourself for what happened and for when things go wrong with the team. I watched the World T20 match against India and it was a spinner’s wicket. R Ashwin bowled the first ball and it turned alarmingly. I felt so bad that I couldn’t sleep all night. I was blaming myself, but you learn from these mistakes.”

Ashwin had a good day with the ball in that game, with even the first ball of the match gripped and went past the outside edge of the batsman at the Eden Gardens. Pakistan were restricted to 118 and India chased it down with a half-century from the star batsman Virat Kohli.

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Yasir admitted that the team misses Saeed Ajmal. “Yes, but I was very sorry we lost Saeed Ajmal. He was our leading spin bowler and he was a big player for us. Whenever a player of that caliber is ruled out, the team is weakened. We really felt his loss even though I was playing. Also, if we’d played together he could have helped me.”

“It might seem sudden but behind this is the result of 12 or more years of effort. If I’d lost heart whenever I lost my place, I wouldn’t have got anywhere. Whenever there was a disappointment, I decided to work harder and perform better,” he added.

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The wrist spinner emphasized the importance of hard work and practice as that is what gives control to the bowlers. “Practice is very important for a leg-spinner. You need to practice every day and that’s how you get control. Also, you need a repeatable action. If your action doesn’t fall away, you bowl in the same area, contain the batsman and make life more difficult for him,” he concluded.