KARACHI - Enjoying the services of quality spinners in their line-up Pakistan is firm favorites to reach the semi-final of ICC World Twenty20, former Pakistan skipper and ace Test batsman Muhammad Yousuf said on Saturday.
"Having spinners like Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Muhammad Hafeez and Zulfiqar Babar, Pakistan possess a very formidable spin attack," he said here on Saturday.
"Looking at the conditions favoring the spinner in Bangladesh, Pakistan got solid spin attack which can prove tormentor for any batting line-up," he commented. He said all Pakistan spinners got their own style and variations which can baffle and prove threat for top batsmen of the world. "I would have not rated Pakistan chances in 50 overs cricket. But Pakistan is very strong in shorter version of the game." he said.
Yousuf said Pakistan will have no problems against West Indies because of great variety in their spin attack. He said tracks are favoring spinners which can be judged from their success rate while batting tracks not conducive for pace bowlers.
He said despite West Indies' stunning win over Australia, Pakistan got an edge over the Caribbean. He said besides Bangladesh, Pakistan is also favorite against the West Indies for their last league round played on April 1. "West Indies got two good spinners like Narine and Badree. But we got four quality spinners in Pakistan team," Muhammad Yousuf, who broke Viv Richards's record of highest Test runs in a calander year in the 2006, he stressed.
"Despite ifs and buts and unpredictability of T20, cricket I personally don't see much problems for Pakistan advancing in the last four rounds", he maintained. However, he said it would be tough for Pakistan if they face Sri Lanka in four rounds because they got batsmen, who can handle and play spinners well. Yousuf said apart from the sub-continent teams, all the other teams are vulnerable against the quality spin bowlers. He said Australians faced the same problem despite being placed well at one stage of the match. "It’s not easy to tackle spinners when batsmen needed to play to big stroke under pressure," he reminded.