Pakistan must play bold cricket: Jalaluddin

KARACHI: Former ODI and Test cricketer Jalaluddin has said that Pakistan’s defeat against India in the World Cup did not mean that all was lost but the team needs a competitive strategy in the remaining matches to reach the semifinal.

Talking to the News on Sunday, Jalal said that the remaining matches against Australia, England, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan would be tough. He was of the view that the type of cricket Pakistan was playing cannot take work. There is need of taking risk and bold steps to win the matches, he said.

The traditional approach would not take Pakistan forward, he added. Babar Azam-led team would have to do something different, otherwise Pakistan cannot win matches against strong teams, said Jalal, an ECB level 3 and PCB level 4 coach.

He urged Pakistan cricket team to adopt a new strategy for the remaining matches and define the new roles for batsmen and bowlers. He said that more confidence should be given to Abdullah Shafiq. He should be told to play aggressive cricket and go for big and long shots instead of waiting for loose balls, Jalal said.

Baber and Muhammad Rizwan should not play dot balls if Pakistan wanted to win the remaining matches, Jalal said. He further said that bowlers should also change their strategy and instead of bowling for stopping the runs, they must buy big wickets by laying traps for big- hitting rival batsmen.

He suggested that Shadab Khan and Muhammad Nawaz should change their strategy against Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa, and buy wickets by luring batsman for big hitting.