Former Pakistan captain Inzamamul Haq is disappointed with the performance of young Pakistan players in the ongoing Habib Bank Limited (HBL) Pakistan Super League (PSL).
While speaking in a YouTube video, Inzamam shared his concerns about the dip in pace of Quetta Gladiators’ fast-bowler Mohammad Hasnain — who is currently the leading wicket-taker in the tournament.
“We have good lot of fast-bowlers which includes Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Musa Khan and Akif who can bowl at 145 plus kph,” said Inzamam. “I picked Hasnain because of his pace, he consistently went beyond the 150 kph mark, but I’m noticing that during current PSL, he has not touched 150 kph yet. This is concerning for me because pace is his x-factor and he needs to work on his fitness to get back to where he was.”
The former Pakistan captain also advised the young Pakistan batsmen to play proper cricketing shots rather than just slogging the ball.
“I have not been impressed by the young [Pakistan] batsmen in the tournament so far. They have not been able to score big runs and take their team to victory,” he said. “I have noticed that these players only try to go for the big shots, by clearing their front leg, rather than playing strokes towards different parts of the ground. They need to realise that it is also possible to score runs by playing proper shots.”
“They need to follow Babar Azam, number one player in T20I cricket, who is scoring runs by playing proper cricketing shots,” he added.
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Inzamam, who also served as Pakistan’s chief selector before Misbahul Haq, also stressed on the importance of coaching players about adopting a better approach towards the game and especially in the batting department.
“I’m also very disappointed by all-rounders such as Faheem Ashraf and Amad Butt who only try to hit out rather than being more sensible with the bat. The coaches need to advise them how to adopt a better approach with the bat rather than just hitting the ball with your eyes closed,” he concluded.