Asia Cup 2018: Pakistan batsmen look to bounce back against Afghanistan

Denzil Pinto 20:34 20/09/2018
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  • Sarfraz Ahmed was one of the players criticised by Mickey Arthur.

    The Asia Cup reaches the business end of the tournament with the Super Four stage beginning on Friday.

    Pakistan, who were beaten by India on Wednesday, have a chance to redeem themselves when they take on Afghanistan in the opening game at Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

    Ahead of the game, we look at the talking points:

    WILL PAKISTAN BATSMEN RESPOND AFTER MICKEY ARTHUR’S STRONG WORDS?

    The South African didn’t hold back during Wednesday’s post-match press conference when he criticised the batsmen after they were bowled out for 162. In particular, young opener Imam-Ul-Haq and captain Sarfraz Ahmed came in the firing line.

    “We sorted of batted outside our roles, which was very disappointing,” he said. “Imam Ul-Haq – it’s not his role to be running down to Bhuvenshwar Kumar in the third over. It’s not Sarfraz’s role to be hitting over the top and getting caught out there. We’ve got X-Factor guys whose role it is to do that.

    “If Fakhar Zaman gets out playing that, it’s okay. If Asif Ali gets out like that, it’s okay because that’s his role. But the other four batsmen certainly need to take responsibility.”

    No surprise then that Pakistan were back in the nets at the ICC Academy even though it was optional on Thursday evening. Sarfraz and Fakhar Zaman were among the batsmen to spend time in the scorching heat.

    Pakistan arrived in the UAE buoyed by a 5-0 ODI series whitewash against Zimbabwe but there were always question marks whether they would be able to pile on the runs against stronger opposition.

    On Wednesday, we found out the answer to that question. They rather gifted the wickets to India  with some poor shot selection rather than letting Rohit Sharma’s side earn it.

    Fortunately the India defeat didn’t have too much riding on the result considering both teams had already qualified but more performances like these with the bat and they can say goodbye to lifting the trophy on September 28.

    BACK-TO-BACK GAMES FOR AFGHANISTAN

    The Afghans will go into the fixture with a lack of rest following their final pool game against Bangladesh on Thursday. Despite it being a dead rubber, Phil Simmons decided on making just one change with Samiullah Shenwari coming for Najibullah Zadran. It means his players will have to recover fast when they face Pakistan. Given that Afghanistan will have to make a 90-minute trip back to their team hotel in Dubai from Abu Dhabi and again to the UAE capital for Friday’s fixture is another headache which they must overcome.

    That could work well give Pakistan the advantage especially as they had a full day’s rest while some of their players only took to the field for an optional training session.

    LIKELY LINE-UPS

    Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed (C), Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Junaid Khan, Hasan Ali, Usman Khan

    Afghanistan: Asghar Afghan (C), Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Ihsanullah Janat, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Aftab Alam, Mujeeb Ur Rahman

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