Sarfaraz vows not to take Afghanistan lightly

BIRMINGHAM: Sarfaraz Ahmed is back in business. After braving the wrath of enraged fans for days, Pakistan’s captain is regaining their favour.

On Wednesday, he led Pakistan to another vital World Cup victory, this time against New Zealand at Edgbaston. Though Sarfaraz didn’t play any important role in the six-wicket win, he did take a spectacular catch of Kiwi danger-man Ross Taylor and hit the winning runs.

On Thursday, he hailed Pakistan’s fans for their big support both at Lord’s and Edgbaston.

“Even when we lost to India in a crucial World Cup match, we did not lose hope. Our belief was in our potential. We were convinced when we will turn our potential into performance, we can beat any team in the event. We had faith,” he wrote in his blog on the PCB website.

“After two days off following the Manchester match, the team looks rejuvenated. The most valuable and priceless thing for this side has been the unwavering support of its fans. If Lord’s was 80 per cent green, Edgbaston was close to 100 per cent. It’s the much-needed support of the fans that continues to drive and motivate us to perform better.

“As such, the support and appreciation from the stands and all around the globe were the additional factors that contributed to our last two wins.”

Sarfaraz hailed young pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi for his impressive spell.

“It will be unfair to talk and not praise Shaheen Shah Afridi, who was outstanding. He had struggled in the earlier matches, but hard work in the training sessions backed up by a good temperament helped him to regain his wicket-taking abilities. Once he starts taking wickets, we all know he can be lethal and that’s precisely what he showed on Wednesday finishing with figures of 10-3-28-3. At just 19 years of age, I have no doubts this lad will contribute regularly and consistently in Pakistan’s future successes across all three formats.

“Our overall fielding was good and we caught everything that came our way, which should bring the smiles back on Grant Bradburn’s face. After the last game when we dropped quite a few catches, he had reminded us to enjoy fielding and I am glad the message was received by the players.

“We knew the 238-run target won’t be easy to achieve. We lost two early wickets, but then Babar Azam and Mohammad Hafeez steadied the innings. After Hafeez’s departure, Haris Sohail played a highly mature innings to offer good support to Babar.

“I don’t remember seeing a better innings in chase than the one Babar played against New Zealand. I dare say Babar is one of the best players of this generation. He is a class apart. He is technically very correct and it’s tough to get him out once he gets going. He looked in total command against a strong New Zealand bowling attack. One of the best things about Babar’s innings was how much he valued his wicket and hardly played a risky shot.

“For the second successive time, Haris batted sensibly and solidly. He took the attack to the New Zealand bowlers. It should be kept in mind his clean stroke-play doesn’t mean it was a batting friendly wicket. Contrary to this, it was an extremely difficult pitch to bat on as shown by Mitchell Santner.

“Now our focus is on the next match against Afghanistan and then we will think about Bangladesh. Afghanistan is a dangerous side with quality spinners, so we will not take them lightly and will have to go at our full strength.

“There has been so much talk about similarities between the 1992 World Cup and this one. We wish these similarities only culminate on 14 July at Lord’s, but we have to keep our feet on ground and keep faith in God Almighty.”