Afridi describes Miandad's special training to cope with dew

A bucket full of soaked cricket balls was used by the bowlers

Former Pakistan T20I captain Shahid Afridi on Tuesday outlined how batting legend Javed Miandad trained bowlers to cope with dew during his three different tenures as head coach of the national team.

“He [Miandad] used to ask us to bring a bucket of water to the ground during training,” said Afridi during the pre-match analysis of the third T20I between Pakistan and West Indies.

“Then he used to throw the balls in that bucket and asked us to bowl with them,” he added.

Afridi also highlighted the difficulties spinners face while bowling in wet conditions.

“I had to hold the ball like a fast-bowler to bowl when dew started to play in,” he said.

Former pacer Wasim Akram, who was also an analyst in PTV Sports’ coverage of the third T20I, then joked about Miandad’s strategy.

“The bucket was not a special one,” he said. “It was brought from the restroom by one of the players.”

The panel, which also included former captain Rashid Latif, was discussing West Indies spinners’ — Sunil Narine's and Samuel Badree's — unsuccessful run in the UAE.

Narine did not account for any batsmen despite being a top T20I bowler, while Badree was able to bag only two wickets — one in each of the first two T20Is — in the three-match series which ended with a 3-0 whitewash of the World T20 champions by Pakistan.



On the other hand, Pakistani spinners — Imad Wasim and Mohammad Nawaz — took 12 wickets out of the total 24 scalps.

Pakistan are scheduled to play three ODIs against the West Indies in the UAE starting from September 30. The series will conclude with three Test matches.