Daily Times

Former captain Wasim Akram has criticised Pakistan’s approach of not staying on the wicket for long. Talking to a sports channel after the team’s defeat in their opening match against West Indies at Trent Bridge on Friday, the former captain and now commentator said Pakistani batsmen must learn how to see off the ball. “We have been playing on flat wickets of Sharjah and Dubai for years and that is why we struggle when we get short balls on wickets like this. Today the batting shortcomings were exposed. Everyone has seen the match and people now know exactly where to bowl to Pakistan batsmen,” Wasim said.

“After losing two initial wickets, players had to stay on the wicket but they couldn’t. They must learn how to stay on the wicket and see off the ball. In such conditions, you have to survive the initial overs,” the former captain highlighted. He said that all the batsmen struggled against West Indies and there was not much to blame the lower order. However, he did criticise Hasan Ali for the way he got dismissed. “It looked like he was chicken-hearted. When there was a set player at the other end, then his job was to stay and rotate the strike back to him. There was no need to slog and lose the wicket,” he added. Wasim said that Pakistan would really have to work hard to make a comeback, adding that the team must bounce back in the tournament. “It’s a long tournament and the team can bounce back. I wish they do. For their own sake, for the fans’ sake. But they’ll have to work hard from here, they must be seen fighting till the end, play like fighters and then the rest is good,” he said. Replying to a question, Wasim said that he was happy to see pacer Mohammad Aamir taking wickets and his return to form was a good sign for the team.