Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi on Monday hinted at playing an extra spinner in the team during the World Cup starting on Saturday. The experienced all-rounder said Pakistan had several spin options and they were prepared to unleash them on turning tracks of the subcontinent.
“The playing conditions here would be quite different to what we encountered during our [recent] tour of New Zealand,” Afridi said.
Pakistan will play two warm-ups here before beginning their campaign in group ‘A’ against Kenya in Hambantota, Sri Lanka on Feb 23.
“Here we can explore the idea of playing an extra specialist spinner,” he added.
Pakistan have two specialist spinners — Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman — in their 15-man squad. Afridi and all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez also add variety to their spin attack.
Afridi has also played down fears that Pakistan will be going into the World Cup with a depleted pace attack saying that his fast bowlers have the guts to shine in the mega event.
“I don’t think that there is any cause for concern,” Afridi said. “Our team is shaping up well and the boys are all highly motivated to give their best in the World Cup,” he stressed.
Pakistan will go into the World Cup after a moraleboosting ODI series triumph in New Zealand earlier this month. Despite the good results, Pakistan are not counted among the top five title contenders because of their depleted pace battery.
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