T20 World Cup: “We’ve to focus on our bowling” – Saba Karim wants Mohammed Shami to bowl at least three overs against New Zealand

Former Indian selector Saba Karim was quite pleased with Mohammed Shami’s comeback after the pacer’s final-over heroics against Australia in the warmup fixture on Monday (October 17). However, he feels the Men in Blue need to further strengthen their bowling attack further ahead of the Super 12 campaign at the T20 World Cup.

Karim wants the ace pacer to bowl at least three overs in India's second warm-up match against New Zealand in Brisbane on Wednesday (October 19) to find his rhythm for of the main matches.

Speaking to India News, the former Indian cricketer said:

“We’ve to focus on our bowling [against New Zealand in the upcoming warmup match]. I think Mohammed Shami should bowl at least three or four overs. It will be great if he bowls a couple of overs with the new ball.”

Karim also hailed Shami for sticking to the yorkers in the death overs. The pacer uprooted stumps off the last two balls while bowling against Josh Inglis and Kane Richardson.

He added:

“Mohammed Shami has shown that he trusts yorkers. I think he will bowl a similar delivery in the death overs. He will not look to do much. You must focus on your strength and bowl in that area.”

It is worth mentioning that Shami defended 11 runs in the 20th over against Australia. He came off the bench for the final over and gave away only four runs as India won by six runs.

The speedster gave away four runs off the first two balls, but four wickets fell off the last four balls, which included a run out.

The Gujarat Titans pacer will strengthen the Indian bowling department, which failed to deliver at the Asia Cup or step up during the bilateral T20I series against Australia and South Africa at home.

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“It’s a big thing”- Saba Karim hails batters for giving Shami and Co. 180+ total to defend against Australia

Karim also hailed the Men in Blue for their stellar batting against Australia in challenging conditions. He said that the presence of quality players in the middle order gives Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul the confidence to cash in during the powerplay overs.

A couple of half-centuries from KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav paved the way for India to reach 186/6 in 20 overs. While Rahul struck 57 off 33 balls, Suryakumar Yadav slammed 50 off 33 deliveries against Australia.

Karim said:

“It’s a big thing that India started well against a strong bowling attack in a proper cricket ground where boundary dimensions were big. It shows that our batters are confident. You can only get such a start when you trust your middle order, which is evident from the batting of KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma."

He added:

"You have Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik. When you have such an attack, you can bat well and fully use the powerplay overs.”

Rohit Sharma and Co. will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday (October 23).