Pakistan must capitalise on India's weak bowling in Asia Cup, says Sarfraz Nawaz

JOIN OUR WHATSAPP CHANNEL

Legendary Pakistan pacer Sarfaraz Nawaz thinks India have a weak bowling attack for the Asia Cup and Babar Azam's side must capitalise on it.

In an exclusive interview with Cricket Pakistan, the 73-year-old also opened up on different aspects of Pakistan cricket.

“Bowlers win matches and since India’s premier pacers – Bumrah and Shami – are missing out for the clash, Pakistan must fully capitalize on the situation and replicate the same results from last time around,” he said.

 

 

Meanwhile, Sarfaraz Nawaz further added that Pakistan has faced a number of weaker oppositions, which might prove to be a problem in regards to their preparations moving forward.

“We were playing against weak teams. We haven't faced tough competitors and we will see how the team will perform in the World Cup,” he remarked. 

The 73-year-old criticised Pakistan’s management approach in terms of finding the right balance for the team.

“There are too many changes in the team. If we look at Australia, they have been fielding the same team and if Pakistan follows the same path,” he added.

Sarfaraz also pointed out the Pakistan cricket team’s inability to sustain pressure after losing wickets and said that the middle-order usually collapses without putting up much of a fight.

He further said that PCB needs to do a much better job while curating pitches for home series.

“They [PCB] need to concentrate on the curation of pitches. They make completely dead pitches and that was seen during the series against Australia. The pitches are supposed to be lively and have a pinch of grass,” he said.

“International pitches should be studied while curating the local pitches. Since we don’t do that, we often find it difficult to adjust to different pitch conditions when we travel abroad,” he further claimed.

Being a remarkable bowler himself, Sarfaraz further added that Pakistan’s bowling department has a lot of depth as well which can come in handy.

“Pakistan has a lot of depth in the pace bowling department. We have eight to ten good pacers but the combination must be set going forward with lesser changes,” he remarked.

Recalling the golden era of Pakistan’s cricket in which Sarfaraz also featured as the main bowler, he said that bowlers nowadays get tired quicker.

“In our time, we played for 15 years. I and Imran were there while the majority were spinners. We used to bowl 50 overs each in a Test match. Now we see bowlers getting tired,” he said.

Sarfaraz remains of the point of view that ODI cricket has lost its value and due to a lot of fixtures, ICC might make substantial changes to that format.

“Cricket is quite a lot now, there are so many games while leagues are also taking place. This is why teams are forming different teams for every format. ODI cricket may be eliminated in the near future,” he claimed.

He further complimented Pakistan stars including Shaheen Afridi and Babar Azam.

“Shaheen is very lethal with the new ball and gets wickets upfront. Babar Azam, on the other hand, is the backbone of Pakistan cricket. When he scores runs, we win matches, and when he doesn't our batting line collapses. The world follows his cover drives and his on-drives are also brilliant, he also accelerates when needed,” he stated.

He concluded with a comment on T20 cricket and match-fixing.

“Fixing can't be stopped especially in T20s. T20 cricket is all about fixing and ICC, cricket boards don't want to interfere and let it spread  There are now T20 leagues where they are calling international players. It all ends with match-fixing,” he said.