Rahi shouldn’t be labeled as Test specialist- Owais Shah
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CF Correspondnet
Former England player Owais Shah said that Abu Jayed Rahi has got the ability to become a short form cricketer and shouldn't be labelled as a Test specialist.
Owais Shah started his coaching career with Rajshahi Royals in the last edition of Bangladesh Premier League [BPL]. Where he got to see pacer like Abu Jayed from the front and don't think a pacer like him should be kept as only a Test cricketer, where he had a nice variations of slow bowls and a slow yorker. Shah thinks the player needs more backing from the coach and the skipper to be able to face the pressure situation and needs more experience through which he can face the tough situation of a game. Also he praised Rahi as a good thinker of the game as well.
"He certainly has got the ability to become a short form cricketer. He has got very good slow balls, he works very hard and I don't think he should be kept as only as a Test cricketer. I think he has got some talent, he is a good thinker of the game. He just needs more experience and more backing from the coaches or the captains to say you know what, this is a pressure situation I would back you to do well in that situation," Owais Shah said that.
"Unless a coach or a captain doesn't back a player in pressure situation he will not believe that he can perform for the team. So they have to throw people like Rahi in tough situations, like okay BPL was a great time to experiment that, you can ask Rahi to bowl in a pressure over, 19th over or 20th over of the game and say okay, how many yorkers can you bowl, how many slow balls and yorkers can you bowl," Shah added.
Shah believes the BPL is a great place to experiment with the temperament of a player, of how a player can face a tough situation, what are the rooms they are in need to improve.
"You know that is a great opportunity, because if he is an international cricketer that is the place for these guys to improve, so that they had the experience and when they do play for their country they can perform," He said.
Owais Shah thinks Rahi as an asset to his side, and also lauded him as a good fielder and for his good slower deliveries. He thinks that Rahi need to be backed by his coach and the skipper to perform well in the pressure situation.
"I think Rahi was a good asset for our team. He is a very good fielder and I think he had a very good slow ball. So I think he just needs to work on his game but also I think he needs to be backed by the captain and the coach all the time, just say, your the definitely part of our plans, you will definitely throw the bowl, when the pressure is on and hopefully he can perform," Owais Shah concluded.
