Ghumman rues ‘unlucky’ losses in Sri Lanka

LAHORE: Azeem Ghumman, the Pakistan ‘A’ captain, has labelled his side’s ‘unlucky’ exit from the tri-series as disappointing following the third loss in four matches that sealed his side’s fate.

“Luck was simply not on our side as despite having good chances, we were unable to secure good wins,” Ghuman told The Express Tribune from Sri Lanka. “As expected, the conditions in Sri Lanka were damp and this resulted in the toss playing a crucial factor in winning the matches.”

Pakistan, a relatively young side, was unable to find much success on the tour due to the three losses, with two of those coming against South Africa ‘A’.

“The toss played a vital role throughout the series. Most of the games experienced wet conditions because of the overnight rains, and the team winning the toss obviously put the opponent to bat first, making use of these conditions. Unfortunately we lost most of the tosses. It’s very clear where we went wrong: our batting wasn’t consistent and bowlers turned out to be expensive and as professional cricketers there are no excuses for poor performances. We still have the upcoming four-day matches and I am hopeful that we will bounce back to square things.”

Ghuman admitted the inconsistency displayed by his side as well as his own performance were key factors that led to the dismal results.

“Asad Shafiq, Mohammad Irfan and Hammad Azam played well but the opening batsmen including myself failed to provide a promising start that we badly needed. Our bowlers suffered particularly against the South Africans. Seven of them were left-handers and our bowlers are used to bowling against right-handed batsmen,” added Ghuman, who also complained about the decisions made by umpires during the series.

“Things would’ve been much different if we had a left-arm spinner in the line-up to tackle the left-handed batsmen.”

Pakistan will play two four-day matches against Sri-Lanka A starting from September 10.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 4^th, 2010.