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Thursday March 28, 2024

Pakistan should focus on giving best in series against Sri Lanka: Miandad

The Sri Lankan team would be touring Pakistan for three ODIs and as many Twenty20s in September and October.

By APP
September 11, 2019

ISLAMABAD: Batting legend Javed Miandad on Wednesday advised Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the green-shirts to focus on giving the best in the series against Sri Lanka this month.

The Sri Lankan team would be touring Pakistan for three ODIs and as many Twenty20s in September and October.

Karachi's National Stadium would host the ODI series beginning September 27, while the three T20s would be played at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, the first of which will be played on October 5.

According to reports, Sri Lankan players, including T20 skipper Lasith Malinga, and former captains Angelo Mathews besides Dinesh Chandimal, Suranga Lakmal, Dimuth Karunaratne, Thisara Perera, Akila Dhananjaya, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Perera and Niroshan Dickwella, have opted out of the tour.

Miandad said we must not bother of which players would travel to Pakistan and instead focus on playing at our best in the series.

“If the players have opted out of the tour to play other foreign leagues than SLC must take notice of the matter, as a player’s first priority should be playing for his own country,” he told APP.

Miandad, who played for Pakistan in Tests and ODIs between 1975 and 1996, said Pakistani players need to be consistent in their performances.

“The series against Sri Lanka was a good chance for Pakistan team to win and make a good start at home,” he said.

The legendary batsman said our players need to build up longer innings focusing on 200 runs after a 100. “A player’s gets out after a 100 because he never thinks of getting another 100,” he said adding thinking big would improve the batsmen mentality and innings.

Miandad, who had scored 8,832 runs in 124 Tests, said PCB must focus on improving school cricket to get a good chunk of players from the grass-roots level.

“A player when comes in the team is mature and cannot learn the way a grooming youngster can,” he said.

He said PCB must hire the services of former cricket greats at district level to hunt and train the upcoming players.

“I used to teach techniques to Inzamam ul Haq and other players when was attached with the team,” he said.

To a question on India influencing politics in sports, Miandad, who was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009, said Indian politicians had been politicizing everything just for personal gains.