Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed has admitted his side made more mistakes against Australia in their ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 fixture in Taunton on Wednesday
Taunton (Pakistan Point News - 13th June, 2019) Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed has admitted his side made more mistakes against Australia in their ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 fixture in Taunton on Wednesday.
In an first-person column for www.pcb.com.pk, Sarfaraz wrote the fast bowlers struggled to hit the right channels consistently and consequently lost the advantage of bowling first, while dropped catches and fall of wickets during critical stages of the run-chase, also contributed to the defeat.
However, Sarfaraz praised Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz, threw his weight behind Asif Ali and Shoaib Malik, and backed his team to bounce back strongly in the 16 June match against India.
“We put Australia into bat and needed to bowl in the right areas to cash in on the benefit of bowling first,” wrote Sarfaraz, adding: “Unfortunately, apart from Mohammad Amir, no bowler bowled as well as we had expected and the first 30 overs did not go for us as we had planned. We sometimes bowled in the right channels but not consistently enough.
“What was the reason for Amir’s success? He pitched the ball up.”
Looking ahead, Sarfaraz wrote: “After this defeat, we now have three points from four games. From now on, it is sort of a must-win situation for us. All five games are now crucial and we need to win them.
“All of us know how big the game against India will be at Old Trafford on 16 June. We will do our best preparation for that game. It will be a fresh match at a new venue, so we have to start it with a clean slate and go for the kill.
“I have full faith and confidence in my team and I am sure we will turn this around.”
