Test cricketer Taufeeq Umer believes that the presence of three openers in the team will develop a sense of competition. Talking to journalists here during the camp training of the Zimbabwe bound Pakistan team, Taufeeq said that he learnt a great deal at the camp. “We are working on temperament, in a bid to prolong stay at the crease. We are practicing very hard to come up to the expectations. We have three openers in the camp now and Imran Farhat has now returned to the team and I believe that only the best performer will stay.” Taufeeq and Farhat have been one of the best opening pair during the previous Pakistan and South Africa series that was last played in Pakistan and after that for some unknown reasons the pair was broken and Taufeeq now staged a comeback. Mohammad Hafeez is the third opener named in the team for Zimbabwe. Taufeeq made his Test debut against Bangladesh in 2001 and during the South Africa series in 2002 and 2004 he averaged above 70. His last series for Pakistan was against England in 2006 where he played one Test. “I would overcome the gaps in my career with hard work,” he added. He also pointed out that there has been some stability in the opening pair over the last couple of series. “There has been stability in the opening stand in recent series’. Although opening was an issue of the Pakistan cricket but there has been a difference in the attitude of the openers. “I would rather say that the openers played off the shine of the new ball in the recent series we have played,” he maintained. Taufeeq played 31 matches he has an average of 39.40 in Test cricket while in 22 ODIs he averages 24.04. He further said that the fast track camp that was held last month provided the impetus to his skills and he has been able to remove many flaws in his batting. “I hope that the work I have done on my batting during the camp will surely help me a lot during the series and that will surely be evident from my performance,” he added.
Only the fittest will survive: Taufeeq
