Pakistan seek massive improvement after loss to India

Joy Chakravarty 11:32 17/02/2014
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  • Seeking a win: Sami Aslam.

    Given the composition of their group, Saturday’s opening group match loss to India is definitely not the end of the world for Pakistan, but their pride has surely taken a beating, and there is every possibility minnows Papua New Guinea will have to bear the brunt of that hurt.

    The Pacific nation, who lost their opening match in the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup to Scotland by six wickets in just 65 overs of play, should not pose much a problem for the talented Pakistan side. 

    The Sami Aslam-led team has looked very impressive in the last couple of years despite back-to-back losses to India in the U19 Asia Cup final last month and Saturday.

    And while they are out at the ICC Academy, India will look to seal their quarter-final spot a stone’s throw distance away at Dubai International Stadium, where the defending champions take on Scotland.

    Both India and Pakistan are expected to move into the knockout stage of the tournament from Group A, given the quality of the other two teams.

    The biggest worry for Aslam after the match against India was his side’s fielding. Compared to India’s brilliant effort, Pakistan were sloppy with misfields and dropped catches.

    And even though it is something that cannot be improved in one day, reducing the errors will be on top of the team’s think-tank’s plans.

    While Aslam and Imam-ul Haq both batted well at the top of the order, the lack of runs from No3 Hasan Raza, and the failure of Kamran Ghulam in the first match would rankle the team.

    In their last eight matches, Raza’s highest has been a 33 in a practice ODI against Afghanistan.

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