Pakistan played very well, should win T20Is too: Tauseef

KARACHI: Former Pakistan cricketer Tauseef Ahmed congratulated Pakistan cricket team on winning the ODI series against Australia on their soil after 22 years.

Talking to The News, he said he hoped the Green-shirts would repeat the performance in the T20 series starting from 14 November against the hosts. Tauseef said that Pakistani boys played well throughout the series. “They could have won it 3-0, if our batsmen had scored some more runs in the 1st ODI, which Pakistan lost by only 2 wickets,” said the former off spinner.

He was of the view that since the appointment of former Test fast bowler Aqib Javed as a member of selection committee, several improvements had been seen. “The team is getting better and is on the winning track. Their physical fitness is improving. It started from the Test series against England, which Pakistan won 2-1,” said Tauseef.

On the ODI series, Tauseef said that Pakistani bowlers played a crucial role in this victory and they put the Australian batting line continuously under pressure. “Attacking bowling broke the backbone of the Australian batting. Haris Rauf’s performance was great. Shaheen Shah Afridi is gradually improving his form and so is Naseem Shah,” he said.

Tauseef Ahmed said that Muhammad Rizwan’s captaincy was also a major factor in the successes. “He utilised his bowlers successfully in all three ODI matches, placing good fielding with an attack mindset. He is a smart captain whose batting and wicket keeping also contributed to the success.”

He said that in the T20 series, Pakistan would have an edge on the Aussies after performing well in the ODI series. He said that there is need to improve the batting. “Those batsmen should be used who play aggressively. The side should have five specialist bowlers instead of average bowlers or average all-rounders,” said Tauseef.

He said that Pakistan cricket team management should learn from the Australians who rested their five important players for 3rd ODI match against Pakistan, which was the series decider to strengthen their bench and prepare a second eleven.