Islamabad
Citing the example of opening batsman Abid Ali, former pacer Shoaib Akhtar believed more youngsters would have given the chance to prove their mettle in the One Day Internationals (ODIs) and Twenty20 series against Sri Lanka.
Abid played a solid innings of 74 runs off 67 balls and smashed 10 fours in the second ODI against Sri Lanka. Now, Pakistan would meet the 1996 World Cup winners in Lahore for a three-match T20 series beginning from Saturday.
‘Abid got a chance in the squad when opener Imam-ul-Haq got unfit. Why doesn’t Pakistan team try such solid players,’ he said on his YouTube channel.
The Rawalpindi Express said however Abid must work on playing spinners better. ‘I hope Abid and Azhar Ali would perform better in Pakistan’s upcoming tour of Australia. Azhar was a determined player, whereas, Abid was a good back foot player but it would be a test for him,’ he said. However, Akhtar said the worrying point for him was Pakistan’s bowling which didn’t click in the ODI series.—Agencies
