Wasim Akram dubs Pakistan favourites for ICC World T20 – Cricket News Update
Former Pakistan skipper turned cricket commentator http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 this September, adding that they are also likely to emerge triumphant in their upcoming limited-overs series
against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 in the UAE.
“Pakistan are favourites. Players like http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 can't do well,” Akram said. “They also have a very good chance against Australia in the upcoming series in
the UAE.”
The Men In Green got off to a promising start in the inaugural edition of the World T20 tournament, held in 2007-2008. They breezed through the quarter-finals and semi-finals, but lost the final against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 by a narrow margin of 5 runs, at The Wanderers
Stadium on September 24. Despite their loss, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 was awarded the Player of the Series award.
They managed to bounce back in the second edition of the tournament in 2009, besting Sri Lanka by 8 wickets in the final to lift the trophy at Lord’s on August 21. However, the title was snatched from them by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 in the 2010 edition of the tournament,
during which Pakistan were knocked out of the competition by Australia, during a semi-final which they lost by 3 wickets at the Beausejour Cricket Ground on May 14.
Alongside pinpointing the Men In Green as favourites, Akram also went on to add that the team needed to improve their batting performances if they were to have a hope of doing well in the shorter formats of the game. Pakistan are due to play a series of
3 ODIs and 3 T20Is against Australia in the UAE, which will be followed by the World T20 in September.
However, Akram claimed that the team needed to quicken the pace of their innings in order to win matches, adding that their batting performances during their recent tour of Sri Lanka in June/July this year had been slow and uninspiring.
“At times, I thought I was watching a Test match. They need to maintain a strike-rate of over 130 and a boundary should be followed by singles to keep the scoreboard moving,” Akram observed. “Their approach needs to become more adventurous if they want more
success in the format.”
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