Abdullah719
T20I Captain
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2013
- Runs
- 44,825
Yasir Shah at a presser:
"I am focusing on my cricket. In the last year or so, I struggled a lot. I had sustained a fracture and become unfit. When I came back, it was difficult for me to recover and come back into form but I got 5 wickets in my last Test. That gave me some confidence and when I looked at my bowling, I felt I was getting back into rhythm.
"Since Mushy bhai is here with me, I am working on my action and also especially on my googly. In the 2 day match, all the googlies I bowled landed well and they also spun. I think this time this will be my most important weapon.
"I am not under pressure. If you take 215 wickets after 40 Tests and still come under pressure, that's not good. Of course, when we played in Dubai, we would play two spinners and that would help me as well.
"When you play with 3 fast-bowlers then they get tired so you have to bowl a lot to give them time to recover. This is part of being a team player and when you go with a certain combination. The best performances are when you have a good partnership with other bowlers so we try to develop good partnerships by supporting each other.
"Mushy bhai helps me in the nets and tells me about certain things. When I am bowling right now, I am feeling good about it. I am getting overspin and the googly is also progressing well so I am feeling good.
"When you perform well and get 10 wickets, 14 wickets in a match then your performance decreases a bit, people of course say that the performance has been affected. Everyone always looks to performers and expects them to do well. I am working with Mushy bhai and like he was there in 2016 and I performed well, I am hopeful of doing well again.
"The weather in July and August is such that spinners get help. Counties sign spinners for July-Sept because in these three months, spinners get help on dry wickets so I am hopeful that the wickets will provide assistance.
"I am working on my batting in the nets, Misbah bhai and Younis bhai also help me. I bat in the nets for 30-45 mins every day.
(Are you planning for a hundred) "I am planning for it, why not? When you play for the team then you need to plan for such things. When the team needs you then you need to step up. So I do have a plan for hitting a century. If I can hit a hundred at Adelaide then insha'Allah I can do it here also.
"It's true that I didn't perform as I should have in the last 6 matches. I also play only one format, perhaps that's why I was demoted in the contracts. It's ok, it happens, sometimes you perform well and sometimes you don't.
"Of course, the ball to dismiss Gabriel in WI was a great moment for me because it was Younis and Misbah bhai's last match and we won in WI for the first time. Before the last ball, I spoke to Younis bhai and he told me to bowl a slider. I said I want to bowl a googly so he said to bowl it outside off-stump. When I was coming in to bowl, I was thinking that my googly isn't that good so let me try the slider, it can skid on and he can get bowled. So I bowled the slider and Allah gave me respect and I got the wicket on that ball.
"Shining the ball will be difficult because you can't use saliva. You also sweat less in England but we will try to use that to shine it. It may be difficult for the fast bowlers. For spinners, it's good that it's the Dukes ball. The seam of this ball is a bit bigger so it grips and there won't be any issue for spinners.
"It's good that WI are playing before us. We will get to see the wickets and see England's weaknesses. We will watch their Test matches and see how things happen and that will be helpful for us.
(People talk about your weight, do you take it positively) "I take it positively. I always train a lot and put in my best effort. I am also training extra nowadays because when you're under lockdown for 3 months then you can't do running and training as normal. So now we're giving it extra time."
"I am focusing on my cricket. In the last year or so, I struggled a lot. I had sustained a fracture and become unfit. When I came back, it was difficult for me to recover and come back into form but I got 5 wickets in my last Test. That gave me some confidence and when I looked at my bowling, I felt I was getting back into rhythm.
"Since Mushy bhai is here with me, I am working on my action and also especially on my googly. In the 2 day match, all the googlies I bowled landed well and they also spun. I think this time this will be my most important weapon.
"I am not under pressure. If you take 215 wickets after 40 Tests and still come under pressure, that's not good. Of course, when we played in Dubai, we would play two spinners and that would help me as well.
"When you play with 3 fast-bowlers then they get tired so you have to bowl a lot to give them time to recover. This is part of being a team player and when you go with a certain combination. The best performances are when you have a good partnership with other bowlers so we try to develop good partnerships by supporting each other.
"Mushy bhai helps me in the nets and tells me about certain things. When I am bowling right now, I am feeling good about it. I am getting overspin and the googly is also progressing well so I am feeling good.
"When you perform well and get 10 wickets, 14 wickets in a match then your performance decreases a bit, people of course say that the performance has been affected. Everyone always looks to performers and expects them to do well. I am working with Mushy bhai and like he was there in 2016 and I performed well, I am hopeful of doing well again.
"The weather in July and August is such that spinners get help. Counties sign spinners for July-Sept because in these three months, spinners get help on dry wickets so I am hopeful that the wickets will provide assistance.
"I am working on my batting in the nets, Misbah bhai and Younis bhai also help me. I bat in the nets for 30-45 mins every day.
(Are you planning for a hundred) "I am planning for it, why not? When you play for the team then you need to plan for such things. When the team needs you then you need to step up. So I do have a plan for hitting a century. If I can hit a hundred at Adelaide then insha'Allah I can do it here also.
"It's true that I didn't perform as I should have in the last 6 matches. I also play only one format, perhaps that's why I was demoted in the contracts. It's ok, it happens, sometimes you perform well and sometimes you don't.
"Of course, the ball to dismiss Gabriel in WI was a great moment for me because it was Younis and Misbah bhai's last match and we won in WI for the first time. Before the last ball, I spoke to Younis bhai and he told me to bowl a slider. I said I want to bowl a googly so he said to bowl it outside off-stump. When I was coming in to bowl, I was thinking that my googly isn't that good so let me try the slider, it can skid on and he can get bowled. So I bowled the slider and Allah gave me respect and I got the wicket on that ball.
"Shining the ball will be difficult because you can't use saliva. You also sweat less in England but we will try to use that to shine it. It may be difficult for the fast bowlers. For spinners, it's good that it's the Dukes ball. The seam of this ball is a bit bigger so it grips and there won't be any issue for spinners.
"It's good that WI are playing before us. We will get to see the wickets and see England's weaknesses. We will watch their Test matches and see how things happen and that will be helpful for us.
(People talk about your weight, do you take it positively) "I take it positively. I always train a lot and put in my best effort. I am also training extra nowadays because when you're under lockdown for 3 months then you can't do running and training as normal. So now we're giving it extra time."
