Asif vows to do in T20 what he couldn’t in Asia Cup

KARACHI: Pakistan cricket team’s flamboyant batter Asif Ali has aimed to improve his match-finishing abilities during the upcoming seven-match T20 series against England.

In an exclusive interview to Geo News, Asif said that his goal during the white-ball home series against visiting England side is to make himself able to do things which he wasn’t able to do during the Asia Cup in UAE.

“Everyone is excited for this series,” Asif Ali said after his training session in National Stadium. “The series will also provide us good opportunity to prepare ourselves for the T20 World Cup which is schedule to be held in Australia,” the middle order batter said. He said that he’s focused on his goal and aiming to do what team wants him to do.

When asked what his goal would be during the series, the 30-year-old cricketer hinted that he is working to further improve his match finishing abilities.

“As I was unable to finish properly during Asia Cup, I am trying to overcome this and improve my finishing, I am working hard and discussing with coaches to work on this. On nets, I am trying to emulate match situation and coming late to the nets which allows his body to cool down enough after warm-up as similar would be the situation during matches,” he mentioned. “This practice is aimed to do such practice which can help me prepare for power hitting as soon I step in,” he added.

Asif, who has represented Pakistan 21 ODIs and 45 T20s, said that his batting position is usually a pressure situation but that’s what cricket is all about. “I usually come to bat at a situation when you’re needed an average of 12 to 14 runs, sometimes I do get to bet only in last over of the game. Nevertheless, I always try to learn from my previous games and focus on how to improve things for future games,” he said.

Asif said that he is aiming to prepare well for the upcoming T20 World Cup as conditions there can be helpful for batting. “I am hearing that situation will favour the batters there, we’ll also play in New Zealand which will allow us to adjust quickly as well. I’ve played couple of games in Australia before, though I couldn’t score in past but this time I will prepare myself well for the tournament,” he concluded.