"We have a lot of positives and negatives from this game but we have to learn from our mistakes and improve upon them," he told reporters in a post match press conference after his team went down fighting by two-run in the third One-Day International at Dubai Sports City International Cricket Stadium late Tuesday night. "We got to get mentally more strong, "he said
"I am not satisfied with my own performance nor of the team. We must raise our game. Our fielding standard is also not good and we gave away 25-30 extra runs to South Africa, he pointed out. He admitted that Abdul Razzaq's match winning century has inserted a new lease of life in the team and they are performing better. "We should work more hard for winning results," he commented.
Afridi said the main difference between the two teams was fielding. "South Africans fielded far better and that was the main difference between the two teams," he stressed.
"Look at Hashim Amla the way he batted it was an example for the our players. He took up the challenge single handily and scored a brilliant unbeaten hundred and guided South Africa to reasonable total," he said.
He came hard on off-break bowler Saeed Ajmal. His (Ajmal) performance is not up to the mark and we will come up with left arm spinner Abdur Rehman in the next game, he said. Rehman is a good bowler and has done well in the past, he added.
Shahid Afridi said Misbah-ul-Haq was dropped because was he not performing well with the bat. On Umar Akmals injury, he said, he was taken for X-ray after twisting his ankle and result is being awaited.
Commenting on the condition of the pitch he said its new and different from Abu Dhabi, he said there will be small totals.
