BIRMINGHAM: Sarfraz Ahmad and his charges are aiming to bounce back in the ICC Champions Trophy when Pakistan take on strong rivals South Africa in their second match at Edgbaston Ground here Wednesday (today). Pakistan were thrashed by 124 runs by archrivals India in their opener on Sunday at the same venue. Pakistan’s crushing loss to defending champions India was termed the ‘Mother of all mismatches’ by the Indian media. Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur has no doubt Pakistan will be ‘up for the fight’ when they face his native Proteas after a humiliating defeat by arch-rivals India. Now, in the space of just a few days, Pakistan must somehow raise their game to beat a South Africa side who defeated Sri Lanka by 96 runs at the Oval on Saturday in their opening Group B fixture if they are to have any chance of reaching the semi-finals. South Africa and Pakistan are cricketing opposites in every conceivable way at the moment. South Africa are the highest-ranked team in the Champions Trophy, Pakistan the lowest.
Arthur suggested too many Pakistan players had suffered ‘stage fright’ against India in front of a capacity crowd of more than 24,000. “My issue is fear. My issue is getting out there and really looking to take the game on. The worrying thing for me…is we just do the basics wrong. We drop simple catches. We don’t run well enough between wickets. We don’t understand when to bowl our variations.” But Arthur, a former coach of both South Africa and Australia, was adamant all was far from lost. “We’ll be thinking firmly of coming back and beating South Africa,” he said. “Because that’s what I think our players can do. So, we’re going to be up for the fight.”
Sarfraz told reporters yesterday that the mood in the camp was good and he remained ‘confident’ ahead of their clash with South Africa. “South Africa are a really good team and we are working out plans for their team combination. As a captain, I am confident going into the match against them. The players are motivated. We’ve told them to play without feeling any pressure. I am hopeful that we’ll bounce back against South Africa.” When asked how the team management lifted the confidence of the players after defeat against India, Sarfraz said: “India-Pakistan match was a crucial one. Four to five players who faced India for the first time might have felt some pressure but we tried to pull them out of the gloom. The mood in the camp is good. We briefly sat down together so that the players could improve their spirits and because the upcoming matches are important. Hopefully, the team will perform better in the next two matches.”
Sarfraz, when asked if there would be any team changes for the match against South Africa, practically confirmed his starting line-up instead of keeping his cards close to his chest. “We’ve made two changes in the team,” said Sarfraz after taking a long pause, Left-handed batsman Fakhar Zaman will replace opener Ahmad Shahzad, while Junaid Khan will come in for the injured Wahab Riaz.”
If Arthur has some ‘inside knowledge’ on South Africa, the Proteas’ have a ‘spy’ of their own in Pakistan-born Imran Tahir. The leg-spinner, who changed allegiance after falling in love with his South African wife, played a key role in Saturday’s match. Despite a fine hundred by South Africa’s Hashim Amla, Sri Lanka were well-placed to chase down a target of 300 at 116 for two. But man-of-the-match Tahir’s return of four for 27 turned the tide. “It was close to ten out of ten,” said South Africa captain AB de Villiers of Tahir’s performance, which also included a run-out. “He takes wickets and he is also economical most of the time,” added the skipper, who was equally delighted by Amla’s ‘amazing innings’. The cliche of Pakistan ‘unpredictability’ may be wearing thin, at least in ODI cricket. South Africa, however, have a nasty habit of not playing to their potential in ICC tournaments and de Villiers promised they were not about to ‘get ahead of ourselves.’