Hyderabad, Oct 3 (PTI) The wily Usama Mir is keeping Pakistan's lead spinner Shadab Khan on his toes with his performances heading into their World Cup opener against Netherlands here on October 6.

Pakistan vice-captain Shadab, who did not have the best of campaigns at the Asia Cup, did not do much to boost his confidence in the only bowling opportunity he had in the warm-ups, having not bowled against New Zealand.

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Usama, on the other hand, continued to impress for the second game in a row with a twin strike against Australia and has made a strong case for an inclusion in the playing eleven as the second leg-spinner alongside Shadab.

The 27-year-old from Sialkot, who made his Pakistan debut earlier this year at the back of a stellar domestic season, had featured alongside the seasoned Shadab in the Afghanistan series that preceded the Asia Cup earlier this month but was benched for the entire continental event.

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Shadab and left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz struggled to get wickets in the middle overs, contributing to the team's early exit in Asia Cup.

Though both are leg-break bowlers, Shadab and Usama have contrasting styles. While Shadab bowls with a flatter trajectory and uses the googly frequently, Usama is more traditional and is not afraid to flight the ball. He has a deceptive googly but doesn't use that often.

Having bowled his full quota of 10 overs against New Zealand, Usama was used only for five overs on Tuesday. He made an instant impact, removing the dangerous opening duo of David Warner and Mitchell Marsh in successive overs.

To be fair to Shadab, he bowled the tough overs when Maxwell was going ballistic in the middle. A long hop was offered to Maxwell by Shadab and he duly dispatched it for six to complete his fifty.

Maxwell was particularly harsh on Nawaz, smashing the spinner for three sixes including off a reverse sweep.

With injury to Naseem Shah dealing a body blow to Pakistan, they will have to make do with Hasan Ali as the new ball partner to Shaheen Afridi. Hasan bowled with the new ball for the second game in a row, indicating that he will share the duties with Shaheen on October 6.

Haris Rauf's form going into the tournament proper is also a matter of concern as he leaked 97 runs in 9 overs against a rampaging Australia.

"In the middle overs phase Pakistan seem to be struggling. They need to think out of the box," said Rameez Raja on air.

The flat deck here also made matters worse for the Pakistan attack as it conceded 71 runs off the last 30 balls.

After Tuesday's bowling performance, the bowlers have their work cut out both in the middle and death overs.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)