Daily Times

LAHORE: Pakistan bowling coach Azhar Mahmood believes the team’s pacers are fit and raring to go when they visit Ireland and later England on a Test tour next month. Mahmood said Sunday that Pakistan were not relying on pace this time around in English conditions, and would instead be focusing on technique. “The pacers who have been selected have all been playing quite a bit of cricket lately and they are all in form,” he said. “The fitness tests have shown that the players are fit and will hopefully be available throughout the series.” He added that every player, including pace spearheads Muhammad Amir and Hasan Ali, was required to bowl with their minds rather than just using brute force to see out the Tests. “This is a game of minds and you have to tire the batsman out and then attack his weak areas to dismiss him,” he said. “These players will be really suitable to the conditions in England and Ireland where our focus would be to use less pace and more technique.”

The Pakistan bowling line-up, apart from Ali and Amir, includes Muhammad Abbas, Rahat Ali, Faheem Ashraf and spinner Shadab Khan, while all-rounder Haris Sohail will also be another spin-bowling option. The team will be playing two practice matches against Ireland – the two-day games will be played on April 23-24 at Merrion Cricket Club and April 26-27 at Pembroke CC – before they play the lone Test match from May 11-15 at The Village in Dublin. The head coach of Ireland Graham Ford has announced two squads for the two practice matches to be played against Pakistan and Mahmood says the practice matches will come in handy in helping the team prepare for the main encounters. “Playing practice matches in Ireland will help the players get used to the conditions and adapt to them. The conditions in Ireland and England are similar which will help Pakistan before they play the main matches,” he said.

Published in Daily Times, April 23^rd 2018.