Pakistan captain Salman Agha has defended Usman Tariq’s contentious bowling action and described the off-spinner as the side’s “X factor” ahead of the T20 World Cup.
Tariq has created headlines since making his international debut in November, with the 28-year-old twice reported for a suspect action in the Pakistan Super League.
His distinctive action sees him pause near the crease before firing the ball with a wide-arm sling-shot type delivery.
After being dismissed by Tariq during a warm-up fixture ahead of the World Cup last week, Australia batter Cameron Green made a chucking gesture as he walked off the field.
Tariq has made just three international appearances for Pakistan
“I don’t understand why we are talking about his action because, in my opinion, it is a fair action,” Salman told reporters ahead of Pakistan’s opening fixture against the Netherlands on Saturday.
“He has been tested twice, and he has been cleared.
“I think there is no problem in his action. Yes, he is the X factor of the team, and where we feel that we need an X factor, we will definitely use him.”
Pakistan have little room for error in the tournament, having decided to boycott their Group A fixture with India amid political tensions, and therefore will likely need wins against Netherlands, USA and Namibia in order to advance to the Super 8 stage.
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Speaking on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast, Nasser Hussain, Michael Atherton, and T20 analyst Freddie Wilde discuss how England will do in the upcoming T20 World Cup after a successful series against Sri Lanka.
Salman has warned his side that they will need to bring their “A game” to ensure they avoid an upset.
“It is very important, because you haven’t played much against these sides and you don’t really know their strength and weakness are,” he said.
“It is very, very important to bring your A game, and we as a team only think about how we can execute our plans for 40 overs.”
Sri Lanka chiefs urge Pakistan to reconsider boycott
Sri Lanka Cricket has urged Pakistan to reconsider its planned boycott against India, saying a forfeited match could hit the tourism sector of a country still recovering from an economic collapse.
“We have asked them to reconsider the decision based on the reports we have got,” Ashley de Silva, chief executive of Sri Lanka Cricket, said on Friday.
He said there could be hits from multiple angles if the boycott goes ahead, because Sri Lanka Cricket has already finalised arrangements for the February 15 match with all security plans in place, hotel bookings and ticket sales complete.
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Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton discuss at length, on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast, the ‘crisis’ in cricket following boycotts ahead of the T20 World Cup and the repercussions it may have for the future of the game.
De Silva said that SLC wrote to its counterparts at the Pakistan Cricket Board on the basis of strong cricket relations between the two countries, but declined to provide further details.
Sri Lanka was the first national team to tour Pakistan to revive international cricket there following a long absence of incoming tours. That international suspension stemmed from a 2009 terror attack on the Sri Lanka team’s bus in Lahore.
Sri Lanka experienced an unprecedented economic collapse in 2022 and is now under an International Monetary Fund recovery program. Tourism is a key economic lifeline of the island nation.
England’s T20 World Cup fixtures (first round)
All times UK and Ireland; all games live on Sky Sports
vs Nepal (Sunday February 8) – Mumbai (9.30am)vs West Indies (Wednesday February 11) – Mumbai (1.30pm)vs Scotland (Saturday February 14) – Kolkata (9.30am)vs Italy (Monday February 16) – Kolkata (9.30am)
Watch every match of the T20 World Cup live Sky Sports from February 7-March 8. Get Sky Sports or stream contract-free.
