Series win over England will help in Australia: Tauseef

KARACHI: Former cricketer Tauseef Ahmed says that Pakistan should get confidence from their recent series victory over England.

“The recent 2-1 win over England should enable them to do well in ODIs and T20 games,” he told The News.

Tauseef, who represented Pakistan in 34 Tests and 70 ODIs, said that the ODI series will be tough, but in the T20I series, the Men in Green have the skill set to overcome the Aussies.

“The current squad is a combination of both seniors and juniors, but I think that the management will go with the senior players in the first two ODIs,” Tauseef said.

Tauseef expressed trust in the ability of Pakistan’s pace line-up which comprises Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, and all-rounder Aamer Jamal.

“There is no doubt our batting line always struggles on the Australian pitches, but if our pace bowlers can utilise the Australian conditions to good effect, we can really give the Aussies a tough time,” he stressed.

Tauseef said that Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Saim Ayub and Salman Ali Agha will have to play out of their skins. “A score of around 300 or above is necessary to challenge the Australians. All the senior batters must display grit and adaptability.

The likes of Saim Ayub must play with a fearless approach. Shots like cut, pull and hook should be the ones where Pakistan must be covered,” Tauseef said.

“The performances of all-rounders will be important. Pakistan have good all-rounders in Salman Ali Agha and Aamer Jamal.”

But they need some good scores from the batting lineup to contain the Australian batsmen.

Tauseef said he was hopeful that Pakistan would include some young cricketers in this series and find some fresh and talented players.