Eager to perform well, Nasir and Rahat leave for Australia

Say they want to repay the faith put in them.

KARACHI: As opener Nasir Jamshed and medium-pacer Rahat Ali flew to Australia, more due to the bad luck of their peers than their own performances, they vowed to put up strong displays in the World Cup.

Rahat’s lottery came after Bilawal Bhatti failed to do well in the two-match series against New Zealand after being sent as Junaid Khan’s replacement.

Once the series was over, Junaid failed a fitness test and the touring selection committee and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) decided on Rahat, while Jamshed was drafted in when Muhammad Hafeez was ruled out with a hamstring injury.

Jamshed, who has scored 1,413 runs in 45 ODIs at an average of 33.64 with three centuries and eight fifties, said that he is ready to grab the golden opportunity with both hands.

“It’s a great moment to be called up for the World Cup and I’ll play every match as if it is my last,” said Jamshed, while speaking to the media in Lahore. “I was dropped because of bad form but now I’ve regained it by playing in domestic cricket. The plan is to set a good tone upfront for others to capitalise on and we can do that as he and Ahmed Shehzad have been opening together.”

Hopes of Jamshed doing well against India in the team’s World Cup opening match are high as he has a prolific history against Pakistan’s  arch-rivals.

Jamshed has managed 408 runs against India in just six matches at an average of 102 and all of his three centuries, along with one fifty, have come against Pakistan’s neighbours.

“I will try to repeat the same performances against India as I did in the past. However, as a professional, I’m targeting performances against every team; doesn’t matter whether it is India, Australia or South Africa,” added Jamshed.

The left-hander played down the difficulties he will face in playing in alien conditions. “There is as such no pressure of playing in different conditions because teams have scored 300-plus runs in Australia and New Zealand,” he said. “I’ll play my game, like I play in Pakistan and if the pitch is helping the batsman, then the likes of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel become easy to handle.”

Meanwhile, left-arm medium-pacer Rahat said that he will try to repay the faith the touring selection committee has put in him.

Rahat has only played a single one-day in his career in 2012 and only bowled four overs on his debut. He has been a regular feature in Pakistan’s Test side and believes that the transition from the longest format of the game to limited overs cricket would not be difficult.

“I’ll try to live up to the expectations of selection by doing well in the World Cup. I’ve been playing Test cricket and did well in the last two series so hopefully I would be able to perform well in ODI cricket too ,” said Rahat. “There is no pressure on me and I’m targeting to bowl according to plan. If I get a chance to play against India, I’ll try to get their top batsmen out. Even though I’ve played most of my cricket in UAE but I believe that I can do really well in the World Cup because the conditions would help me a lot.”

Rahat added that he was mentally prepared that he might be called up as a replacement once Junaid failed to recover from his injury.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 10^th, 2015.

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