‘Young players need time’

Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has refused to make tall claims for the upcoming Test series against Australia despite his team’s encouraging start to the tour of England that has seen his team win two warm-up Twenty20s and end their 12-match losing streak against Australia on Monday.

Pakistan won the first of the back-to-back Twenty20s by 23 runs after a series of losses against the same opposition with the latest being the three-wicket loss in the 2010 World Twenty20 semi-final at St Lucia.

However, with Pakistan missing several senior figures including Mohammad Yousuf, Younus Khan and out-of-form Misbahul Haq, Afridi urged the supporters not to expect miracles from the young side.

“Experience counts in these conditions and I knew I’d need Yousuf and Younus here in England but they couldn’t be part of the team for various reasons,” Afridi told The Express Tribune. “Since we don’t have them, we now need to work with the youngsters we’ve been given and I hope they put up a good show.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have enough talent when it comes to choosing players for Test matches. We have players for Twenty20s and One-Day Internationals (ODIs), they have the talent for the shorter formats but not for Test matches. However, they’ve performed on the domestic level and for the ‘A’ teams so now it’s up to them to show the team management and the selectors what they have and if we can count on them for the future.”

The squad will be joined by Zulqarnain Haider, Tanvir Ahmed, Azhar Ali, Yasir Hameed, Mohammad Asif, Imran Farhat and Danish Kaneria for the Test matches with the captain adamant that separate teams for the Test matches is the way forward for Pakistan.

“We have planned for the future keeping the schedule and the World Cup in mind. I don’t want the same teams for all formats of the game as we should have at least three to four different members for the Tests from the team that played the Twenty20s.”

With Pakistan playing six back-to-back Test matches against Australia and hosts England, there was a sense of relief in the Pakistan camp following the 23-run win in the first Twenty20.

Often, according to Afridi, the team would arrive at a winning position only to lose the grip on the match and end up second best.

“We’ve been close to beating Australia on quite a few occasions. However, it’s a huge relief and a confidence boost to finally cross that hurdle and start the tour with a win. The team wanted the win and people had been acting surprised that we lose the way this often against Australia.

“It’s a great achievement to beat one of the top teams in any competition and I think it sets the tone well for the rest of the tour.”

Pakistan will now take on English county side Leicestershire in a two-day match at Leicester before returning to London for the first Test match  that starts from July 13.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 7^th, 2010.