The Pakistan T20 team would desperately be looking to square the series against Sri Lanka after losing the opening match of the two-match order to hosts at Suriyawewa. But for that they need to demonstrate a sense of responsibility and maturity.
The side will be meeting in their second T20 encounter on June 3 (today) at Hambantota and new T20 captain Mohammad Hafeez and his charges that came up with the same old spineless display particularly from the seniors like Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik and the floundering openers, have the ability to bounce back. Hafeez, who just missed an opportunity to start off his captaincy career on a high note, would surely be looking to square the series. All Hafeez needs is to take some crucial decisions at the right time, like taking the powerplay and avoiding to much dotballs.
There were also some selection woes which also need to be addressed with courage without coming under political or regional influence in picking up the specialists of the game.
Pakistan have Hammad Azam in the bowling line-up, who could be useful while Umar Akmal would be the one in the middle to carry on the strike provided the openers give him proper start because a total of 132 runs was not that big an ask to be achieved for a team which is used to play the 20 overs matches on a routine basis in their domestic set-up.
Hafeez himself admitted the total was not big enough to have achieved. “A score of 132 was still chaseable but if your main batsmen fail then it’s very difficult to win such games,” said Hafeez. Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez, however, blamed the batsmen for the loss in the first T20I. “I have enjoyed a fair amount of success as an opener in Twenty20, but my presence at the top depends on the team combination,” he added.
All Pakistan need is to come up with a proper combination and its seniors who have specialized in this format to show maturity and a sense of responsibility in their batting. If they all feel the responsibility and start to deliver, things would automatically start to fall at its proper place.
Pakistan need to show maturity to square series
