Asia Cup 2018: Azhar Mahmood leaves UAE due to unforeseen circumstances

Pakistan made an impressive start to this year’s Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Men in Green, captained by Sarfraz Ahmed, thumped Hong Kong at Dubai International Cricket Stadium by eight wickets to register their maiden victory of the multi-nation tournament. Their next match is against arch-rivals India, led by Rohit Sharma, tomorrow at the same venue.

In the meantime, despite the stupendous start, all’s not well in the Pakistani camp. Azhar Mahmood, their fast bowling coach has left the country due to unforeseen circumstances. His nephew passed away and Mahmood left for Pakistan. However, he will be joining the team in the next couple of days or so as per reports in PTV Sports. The Super 4 stage is scheduled to get underway from September 21.

Decent show by the Pakistani pacers

From the cricketing perspective, Mahmood would be happy for the reason that the speedsters did a reasonable job in the first match against the qualifying team. Left-arm seamer Usman Khan picked up three wickets, all of which came in the same over and conceded runs at an economy rate of less than three. Moreover, Hasan Ali nipped out a couple of batters.

Faheem Ashraf, who was stupendous in the Zimbabwe ODI series,  also picked up one wicket. However, left-arm fast bowler Mohammad Amir couldn’t quite hit his strips as he finished wicketless against a not so strong batting lineup. Pakistan are a lethal prospect, especially in the fast bowling department and teams like India, the defending champions, are pretty much wary of the same.

In order to counter the venom of the Pakistani pace battery in the tournament’s marquee class on September 19, the Men in Blue have roped in former Sri Lankan first-class cricketer and left-arm throwdown specialist Nuwan Seneviratne. Meanwhile, Pakistan will be hoping to thump India in their next match and finish atop the points table.

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