news

Shaheen Shah is Pakistan’s strike weapon, say Marnus Labuschagne

Labuschagne believes that Pakistan revolves around Shaheen and in order to tackle the home side, tackling Shaheen will be a must

Shaheen Shah is Pakistan’s strike weapon, say Marnus Labuschagne PHOTO: AP

The No.1 ranked Test batter Marnus Labuschagne is aware of the threat Pakistan's spearhead Shaheen Afridi possesses and labeled him as the strike weapon.

Shaheen had a dream run in 2021 bagging 47 wickets in 17 innings at an average of 17.06. He was also awarded Sir Garfield Sobers ICC Cricketer of the Year for 2021.

Batting and more batting. Lots of prep 🏏 pic.twitter.com/O4CcUtPx1s

— Marnus Labuschagne (@marnus3cricket) March 1, 2022

Labuschagne believes that Pakistan revolves around Shaheen and in order to tackle the home side, tackling Shaheen will be a must.

"Pakistan have built their team really around Shaheen Shah Afridi in the last few years and he’s their strike weapon. So he’s one that we’ve got to make sure we are really on top of," Labuschagne said. 

Beautiful day for some batting in 🇵🇰 #AUSvPAK pic.twitter.com/NZFcdOH4VU

— Marnus Labuschagne (@marnus3cricket) March 1, 2022

Meanwhile, the 27-year-old revealed that he has been watching old Pakistan-India games to learn how to bat on these tracks.

"I’ve been watching a couple of old games. Mohammed Yousuf was a beautiful player, so too Younis Khan & Inzamam. India had Laxman, Sehwag, Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly. It was nice to watch these guys go about playing on these flatter spinning wickets," he added.

Remember, Marnus previously shared his preparation drills on social media and is looking forward to playing in Pakistan for the first time. The top-order batsman is looking forward to improving his record in the subcontinent as he only averages 20.25 in Asia compared to his career average of 56.92.

The first Test will start from March 4 in Rawalpindi while the other two Tests will be played in Karachi and Lahore.