Former captain Aamir Sohail, while expressing his shock over Pakistan’s 40-run defeat against the West Indies in Guyana Test, has called for a change at the grassroots level for producing better batsmen.
“Basically we have to improve batting technique of players at the grassroots, club and first class level to prepare better batsmen to cope with all kinds of situations,” he said on Monday. He said besides using the regional coaches to prepare better batsmen, the coaches of National Cricket Academy (NCA) can be used to lift the standard of the batting. “In absence of some top players, West Indies did a great job to win the Test match,” he added.
He said while the West Indies pace bowlers bowled within the stumps, Pakistan pacemen like experienced Umar Gul and Wahab Riaz did not bowl the right line. “While Ajmal bagged 11 wickets in the match, our pace bowlers were unable to properly use the track as compared to the home team,” he said. Sohail said Pakistan batsmen made the mistakes of using pads for the defence instead of playing with the bat which brought their downfall. “Sammy bowled in the right areas and was rewarded with a match winning spell to lead his team to victory,” he said. Former chief selector Iqbal Qasim complimented West Indies for executing their plan well. “The West Indies took the risk of preparing a slow and turning track but the home executed their plan well to shock Pakistan.” he said. He said batting has always been Pakistan’s problem area and they badly needed to improve this department. Iqbal Qasim was of the view that youngsters like Asad Shafiq and Umar Akmal are learning and will improve with the passage of time. He said Umar Akmal is highly talented players but yet to deliver his best.
