http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 not impressed by his batsmen in 3rd One Day International
Even after a win against the hosts, West Indies, in the third match of the five-match One Day International (ODI) series, the Pakistan skipper, Shahid Afridi, seems less impressed by his batsmen, who once again lost seven wickets in a bid to chase down a
meagre total of 171 runs in 45 overs after rain shortened the match.
Afridi, who himself made only eleven runs admitted that even after a successful run chase his side had few problems in the batting line-up, which need to be addressed as soon as possible.
Talking in the post match ceremony, he said, “There are still some problems. I am sure from the management coaching side we batsmen will face some hard time”.
Afridi acknowledged the fact that playing under home conditions is different than playing away and his side needs to rectify their shortcomings even after winning the series.
Pakistan have two more matches in the series and the skipper expects his batsmen to show better performances in the next fixture. Afridi also reiterated that there were many young guys in the squad and most probably they will be given a chance to test their
abilities in the upcoming matches.
Pakistan’s batting has been under the microscope for almost a year, as the batsmen have struggled on numerous occasions, especially while batting second. Before the tournament in the Caribbean, Pakistan coach, Waqar Younis, and skipper, Afridi, had announced
to give the side more practice in the art of chasing and that is exactly what was displayed in the matches, which have been played so far, as even after winning the toss, Pakistan, who mostly choose to bat first decided otherwise, to get in the habit of chasing
totals.
Pakistan won all three matches of the ongoing ODI series while batting later. The main reason for Pakistan to concentrate on batting second is the fact that they were ousted from the ICC World Cup 2011 by hosts http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 in the semi-final, as they helplessly
tried to chase a total of 260 runs on a wicket that had little to offer the bowlers.
After their world cup nightmare, Afridi announced that the team desperately needed a batting coach, however, till now, no one has been appointed for the job. It has been learned that the PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) plans to appoint a national batting coach
after the conclusion of the ongoing West Indies tour.
PCB’s initial choice for the job was http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Javed-Miandad-c66580, but the veteran declined the offer due to personal reasons. Afridi and Waqar believe that a batting coach/consultant will be helpful in embedding the concept of successfully
chasing runs in the current batting line-up of the national team.
Pakistan and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 are scheduled to play the fourth ODI on May 2, 2011 at Bridgetown.
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