Asia Cup 2018: Usman Shinwari wants to pick five-for against India

Pakistan fast bowler Usman Shinwari showed his skills against Hong Kong in their first game of the Asia Cup, but the pacer now wants to go ahead and derail the Indian batting line-up when the two teams clash in the game of the group stages on Wednesday. The India-Pakistan game is highly awaited as the arch-rivals last clashed in the final of the Champions Trophy in 2017.

“India is the No.1 team, they have excellent players. Definitely when Pakistan and India have a match, not just the players but also the crowd gets excited. It’s a big game and hopefully, we’ve prepared well enough,” he said.

“Players that do well in India-Pakistan games command a lot of respect. I want to perform well in the game. I got three wickets today, hopefully against India I can get five. Pakistan is used to the pitches in Dubai, so this is an advantage for us and we know a little bit about the pitch and ground,” he said after the Hong Kong game.

Shinwari has picked 18 wickets in just 7 ODIs and showcased his skills against Hong Kong on Sunday. The pacer feels the wicket was slightly on the slower side. He said the competition among the fast bowlers in the team is a brilliant thing as everyone gives it their 100 per cent.

“If you look at our bowling attack – the ones playing or the ones on the bench – they’re all top bowlers, so there’s a lot of competition. It is fun because you have to perform in every game, so I’m putting in the hard work,” he said.

“Today’s wicket was slowish, but I was trying to bowl fast. With the new ball, I was going for wickets, but I didn’t get any. When I came on for my second spell, the ball was scuffed up, so I got reverse swing.”

Speaking about new-ball partner Mohammad Amir’s lean patch, he said: “Wickets can depend on luck. On some days, you bowl ordinarily and get a lot of wickets, on other days you’ll bowl extremely well and not get a single wicket. Amir has been bowling well in most matches, hopefully, he’ll be able to get some wickets next match onwards.”