PCB chairman advises Green Shirts to play aggressively in T20I

DUBLIN: After defeat at the hands of Ireland in a T20I match, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi has bucked up the Pakistan team and suggested playing aggressively while adopting modern T20 international techniques.

Discussing strategy for the next games as well as preparations for the upcoming T20I World Cup with the national side in a meeting in Dublin, Naqvi said the T20 format required an entirely different and aggressive approach.

"Winning will be only possible by playing with the modern and new style of T20 cricket. An intensive competition should be displayed on ground and players should fight till the last ball," he said.

The PCB chairman encouraged the Men in Green saying that each of the players was without a doubt one of the best professional and talented cricketers in the country. He also lauded the bowling attack, but stressed on paying special attention to fielding so that the opponents could not find a chance.

“Strategy can be formulated sitting in the living room but the real test is in the field, where the performance should be seen,” he said.

He said the Pakistani nation was fond of cricket and they had great expectations from the national players.

“Players are a hope for Pakistan and they have to fulfill the nation’s expectations. A team work is a prerequisite for victory. If the 11 players will unitedly make effort, they will achieve success,” Naqvi said.

Referring to the defeat from Ireland in the first T20I match of the ongoing series, he said nobody was accepting it. After Ireland and England, the real test was the world cup ahead, he said.

Ireland clinched their maiden T20I victory against Pakistan on May 10 as they beat the Green Shirts in the opener of the three-match series at the Clontarf Cricket Club, Dublin.

The hosts stunned the Green Shirts by five wickets in a historic win as this was the first time the Irish hosted Pakistan in T20Is.