Chief selector Mohsin Hasan Khan has praised the performance of the Pakistan team against Zimbabwe and has expressed hope that it will help in developing a solid combination against Sri Lanka in the upcoming series starting in the United Arab Emirates next month.
“As a whole, the team performance is very satisfactory and even though Zimbabwe was not a weak opposition our boys played well to win every game,” Mohsin told Dawn on Thursday. Pakistan not only won the one-off Test but also scored a clean sweep in the ODI series against Zimbabwe. They are now getting ready to face the hosts in the two T20 matches series starting Friday.
“This tour of Zimbabwe will help us a lot in putting together a solid combination for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka, which is one of the best teams in the world,” said Mohsin. “Since the Sri Lankan series will be played in the UAE where the conditions are different, we will make the combination accordingly,” he added.
Mohsin further said that 80 per cent target set for the series against Zimbabwe had been achieved and the combination of the senior and new players earned the convincing success. “It was great to see captain Misbah-ul-Haq leading from the front throughout the series with his performance and the way the seniors and new players responded which is a good sign for Pakistan cricket,” he said.
He also lauded the role of team management on the tour.
The former opener has special praise for fast bowler Aizaz Cheema and said the bowler had given an outstanding performance on the tour. In the batting department, he was all praise for seasoned campaigner Younis Khan, Mohammad Hafeez besides Misbah and added they had played a tremendous role to set a guideline for the new players and for the whole team. About Shoaib Malik, who was included in the team after almost a year but failed to deliver, Mohsin said the all-rounder could not utilize the opportunity but still he had a lot of cricket left in him.
He said wicket-keeper Adnan Akmal had again proved himself as a fine performer behind the stumps. He expressed the hope the team management would give a chance to Ramiz Raja Junior in the upcoming two T20 series against Zimbabwe.
