DUBAI - Pakistan T20 skipper Shahid Khan Afridi said his bowlers were up to the mark but batting let the team down as 145 runs target was not much hard to chase. Afridi said they had learned a lot of positives from the two matches and hopefully they would not repeat same mistakes in the ODIs and would work on avoiding batting collapse. “We have a blend of senior and juniors. Juniors had played enough matches and they must realise their role.”
“We managed to restrict Kiwis well but could not chase the target, which we should have as wicket was playing normal and dew factor was not causing much disturbance.” He defended his decision to field first after winning the toss. “In the first match too our bowlers bowled well and we easily chased down the target. I was expecting same from the batsmen. Early dismissals of Sarfraz and Hafeez put us on the back foot but even then we could have achieved the target but the middle-order failed to click. I must say it was our bad luck otherwise target was very much within our grasp.”
While speaking about makeshift opener Sarfraz Ahmed and changes in the team, Afridi defended the rotation policy. “We have the liberty of taking different decisions in shorter version of the game as compared to longer version or ODIs. Sarfraz had batted well in the first match. Ahmed Shahzad had done exceptionally well in the Test series and Umar Gul was staging comeback after long absence. As now world cup is approaching fast we have to select a combination of players.” On Saeed Ajmal’s absence Boom Boom said off course he was badly missed. “He is a champion bowler and every team would love to have their frontline bowler, but we can’t comment any further on the matter as it is with the ICC and hopefully it would be resolved soon.”
Sharing his views Jimmy Neesham said they had scored reasonable runs and despite dew factor, their bowlers done wonders. He said inclusion of Dany Vettori always gave that extra cushion and edge to the team. “We are fully focused on the ODIs and want to finish in style. We had given chance to all the bench players. Corey Anderson was slightly injured and dropping him was just a precautionary measure while Guptil was also rested. We want to give every player a run before we could select right combination for the World Cup. We want to utilise each and every opportunity before the World Cup get started. Pakistanis are tough opponents and even without Saeed Ajmal they had depth in their bowling.”