Zaman optimistic ahead of Australia challenge

Pakistan’s opening batsman Fakhar Zaman, in a Youtube video issued by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday, claimed that the Men in Green’s preparations to take on Australia Down Under were adequate and was optimistic that the results would be positive.

The hard-hitting opener stated that the wickets in Australia were very different and therefore it usually takes time to adjust to the conditions.

“This has been great preparation for everyone, the way everyone was preparing in the nets. The wickets here are very different than ours so this has been good for us. It takes a bit of time to adjust to these conditions. We are hopeful that these preparations will help us when we face the main team of Australia,” Zaman said.

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Zaman revealed that the batsman tried to take their time, in the practise match on Thursday, because they were chasing a small target.

“The new ball always swings wherever you play so you have to adjust accordingly. Babar was with me and he plays really well. If you see the runs, we didn’t get a very big target. So we tried to occupy the crease as long as possible since we didn’t have too many runs to chase down,” he said.

The 29-year-old praised the performance of the pacers Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Irfan and Wahab Riaz and claimed that their sparkling form was a good sign for Pakistan.

“We bowled really well. The way they started, we did a great job to restrict them. Especially the way Mohammad Amir and Wahab bhai bowled towards the end, the way Irfan and the spinner bowled is also a good sign for us that they seem to be in good rhythm,” he said.

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Zaman was optimistic that the preparations would translate into meaningful result for the national team in their series Down Under.

“Our preparations are very good. The guys are in good knick. We hope that we can have a good contest and we will turn out victorious,” he said.