Although Pakistan were drubbed 5-0 by Australia in the ODI series held in the UAE recently, their batting coach Grant Flower has found a few positives to take ahead of the 2019 ICC World Cup in England.
Pakistan had opted to rest several senior stars in the series including skipper Sarfraz Ahmed, Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman in a bid to test their fringe players ahead of the World Cup.
“It was always going to be difficult to beat Australia given how many players we were resting, so in that sense the series result appears worse than it perhaps is,” the Pakistan batting coach told ESPNcricinfo in an interview.
The former Zimbabwe international was encouraged by the batting displays of Haris Sohail, Mohammad Rizwan and debutant Abid Ali in the five-match series.
Sohail and Rizwan both struck two centuries apiece in the series whitewash while Abid Ali became only the third Pakistan batsman in history to register a ton on ODI debut.
Two centuries from Haris Sohail in the five-match series.
“Rizwan’s been playing well, but he looked more in charge of his own mind this time. Less frenetic and paced his innings better. He’s good enough to bat in the top four, but I also think he’s versatile enough to play lower down. His running between the wickets is among the best of our players,” Flower said.
“Haris is a class player and he showed that. His knee’s getting stronger now, and he’s working a lot harder at his fitness. He’ll be the first to admit he didn’t put in the hard yards quite as much earlier in his career, but he’s seeing the benefits of the work he’s putting in now.
“Abid’s century was of course brilliant to see. I wasn’t expecting it, since we hadn’t done much work with him before the series. I’d been told how good he was, but to see him timing the ball as beautifully as he did was very encouraging. Front foot, back foot, offside, legside, you name it. The Australians were very impressed by him.”
Pakistan have announced a 23-man probable squad for the World Cup which will undertake a two-day fitness camp at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Lahore beginning on April 15. The final 15-man squad for the World Cup will be declared two days later on April 18.
