Pakistan should continue playing fearlessly, says Jalal

KARACHI: Former fast bowler Jalaluddin has praised Pakistan’s performance in the T20 World Cup, saying they proved their detractors wrong through their great performance and fighting spirit.

“This should continue till they win the title,” he said while talking to ‘The News’ on Tuesday.

He said that it was great to see Pakistan playing like a unit. “Reaching the semifinal without losing any single match is admirable and proves that if free hand is given the players can turn the tables. “They were not the favourites when the T20 World Cup started. The credit goes to the players, the management and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja, who knows the ground realties of international cricket and who gave free hand to the players and the management to play their natural game,” he added.

He criticised the previous team management, saying that Misbah-ul-Haq and Waqar Younis ditched the team just before the World Cup.

Jalal said that Shaheen Afridi’s first spell against India set the tempo for Pakistan. They put all teams under pressure and the same attitude, planning and strategy should continue against Australia in the semifinal, he added.

“Australia is a strong team having good batting line but Pakistan has some edge over Australia. We have easily defeated all teams, our bowling line is strong and has every kind of bowler. Shaheen has emerged as a wonderful bowler. His yorker is extraordinary, Haris Rauf is also bowling wonderfurlly.

“Now they don’t seem to be dependent on two or three players as they were before he T20 World Cup. Babar Azam and Rizwan had been bearing all the burden, but now Asif Ali, Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, everyone has done well,” said Jalal.

He said the team management gave free hand to the players. “This attitude was lacking under the previous management. Pakistan should play their own game as they played in previous five matches,” he said.

He said that Pakistan captain and team management should keep eyes on Aaron Finch, David Warner, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Adam Zampa and Mitchell Starc.

He said that the good results became possible thanks to the departure of Ehsan Mani, Wasim Khan, and their favourites.