Naveed Akram comes out in support of Hafeez

Naveed Akram Cheema, manager of the Pakistan cricket team, has come out in support of the T20 skipper, Mohammad Hafeez, and said that cricket fans must show some patience as the opening batsman is new at the job. The all-rounder replaced Misbah ul Haq last month as Pakistan’s captain in the shortest format of the game. However, many analysts believe that Hafeez did not look impressive in the two-match T20 series in Sri Lanka. The home side won the initial match comprehensively but the Green Shirts bounced back in the second fixture at Hambantota to square the series. Pakistan’s batting line-up did not look convincing in the short series and they struggled against the moving ball. Cheema expressed that the whole team was disappointed after the loss in the first match but the fans must remember that this is a new team and they should be given due time to prove their credentials. The manager said that the whole team is geared up to perform well in the upcoming One Day International (ODI) series, which is scheduled to commence from June 7, 2012. “The loss hurt all of us but people should understand that we have a new leader and a new team so they need time to gel. The mood in the camp is good and we’re looking to make amends for our mistakes. We need to capitalise on the chances that come our way,” Cheema said. The pitches in Sri Lanka generally help the seam bowlers at this time of the year as it was evident in the T20 series, where the medium-pacers got a lot of movement in the air as well as off the track. Naveed further added that Pakistan has a lot of depth in the squad and there are players who can come in and perform on different pitches. The manager hinted a rotation policy in the ODI series to give chances to more and more players. “We’ll make the decision after analysing the pitch but we have some exciting players on the bench who have the ability to do well if fielded,” he added.