Yasir Shah, the Pakistani leg-spinner, feels unfortunate for not getting to play Test cricket against India. Shah debuted in 2011 for Pakistan in the limited-overs game. However, it took him three more years to confirm his position in the red-ball game of the team. The leg-spinner has scalped more wickets in the red-ball game than he did in the ODIs and T20Is.
However, the Pakistani cricketer never got the opportunity to play against India in Test cricket. India and Pakistan have not faced each other in a red-ball game ever since 2007. Shah feels disappointed for not getting a chance to play against the Virat Kohli-led Indian squad as he wanted to test his skills against the Indian batsmen.
“It is unfortunate and I feel disappointed when I think about the fact that I have not played a Test against India. Even the white-ball matches have been far and few against them in recent years,” he said here.
“I would like to play against them because they have some top players and for a leg-spinner, it is always enjoyable when you are bowling too or getting wickets of high profile players (like Kohli),” he said.
Yasir Shah reasoned unfavorable pitches in South Africa and Australia
The 33-years-old leg-break bowler has not been able to play his game through the Pakistan tour of South Africa and Australia. Last year in December, Pakistan toured South Africa for three Tests which ended with the visitors losing all the entire Tests. However, Shah could bag only one wicket throughout the series. Meanwhile, in the Australia tour, Shah picked four wickets from the two-Test matches receding around 400 runs.
The Pakistani bowler reasoned that the pitches in both the countries were more of batting and pacer friendly. Meanwhile, he also said that he has not played many Tests ever since Pakistan tour of New Zealand.
“People are talking about my form but how many Tests have I played since I reached 200 Test wickets against New Zealand — just three — that too on pitches which are more ideal for batting and pacers,” he said.
On the other hand, Yasir Shah was not picked by the Pakistan team selectors for the first Test against Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi. The bowler spent his time at the National Cricket Academy of Pakistan where he sharpened his skills with Mushtaq Ahmed who is the spin consultant of the PCB.
“I was okay with the decision and I also felt it was a good idea to go down to Lahore at the National Cricket Academy and spend some time with Mushtaq Ahmed (PCB’s spin consultant). The three days he worked with me it has helped me a lot and made my mind very clear. I am now looking forward to take wickets in the second Test at Karachi,” he said.
The 33-year-old is, however, Pakistan’s seventh-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket and the fourth-highest among the spinners. He has 207 wickets from the 69 innings of the 37 Tests.