‘Pakistan U19 wins in South Africa show we have great talent’

KARACHI: Pakistan under-19 team gave the country’s cricket fans, mourning their exit from World Cup 2019, something to cheer about when they defeated their South African counterparts 7-0 in the latter’s backyard.

Pakistan’s former Test and ODI cricketer Jalaluddin termed the victory a big achievement but he said he was not surprised because Pakistan often dominated at the junior level. “Unfortunately, we don’t capitalise on the raw talent. We fail to teach them things that they must know to shine at the international level,” he said while talking to ‘The News’ here on Sunday.

Jalal said there was plenty of raw talent in Pakistan at all junior levels. “By the time they graduate to the international level, their counterparts have learnt a lot more than them,” he added.

“Our players’ batting is exposed on fast and bouncy tracks when they enter international arena. Cloudy, windy and rainy conditions expose the technique of our batsmen. They are seen struggling in England, Australia, West Indies and New Zealand. We also fail to polish their fielding skills,” said the former fast bowler.

He said that PCB should focus on Pakistan under-19 boys who performed well in South Africa. “It was not an easy task to defeat the host team in all matches. The tracks and the weather there do not suit us. So, the PCB must groom these boys for future international duty,” said the bowler, who was the first to register a hat-trick in One-day International cricket.

Jalal said if under-15 events were organised, Pakistan would win those too. “The performance shows that there is no dearth of talent at junior level. We need to groom them. If we don’t do that, we’ll waste their talent,” he added. The development academies in Pakistan did not do their job properly, he said.