Former Pakistan chief selector and successful coach Mohsin Hasan Khan wished good luck to green shirts and hoped the team would perform well against the Lankan Lions.
Talking to a daily English newspaper, Mohsin said: “My sincere prayers and good wishes are with the players and the team management but not with a few certain individuals, who are tainted and brought bad name to the country.”
He said the team, which would manage to handle the pressure, would come out as eventual winner. “Two match-winners Umar Gul and M Irfan were highly overused, which resulted in both the prime bowlers are nursing their injuries. Had the selectors used commonsense and utilized them accordingly, the situation could have far different. We could have easily beaten not only Sri Lankans, but any other given opponent and at any place.”
“Now the pressure is on the shoulders of magician off spinner Saeed Ajmal who can get much-needed help from another match-winner in the shape of Abdul Rehman, while Junaid Khan is the one and only left-arm fast bowler, who had already proved his credentials at the highest levels. Junaid is world’s arguably best left-arm fast bowler, but he is very unlucky because he was not given what he deserved. He was always rendered step-motherly treatment by the selectors in the past. Now Waqar is at the helm of affairs, who himself was a great fast bowler. Things might change now and Junaid can get what he deserves,” he said.
“In my opinion, Junaid has all the guts and talent, which is required at this level. If he is utilized accordingly by the coach and skipper, it is my firm belief, Junaid will provide not only early breakthroughs, but also will play pivotal role in helping green shirts register thumping victories in both Tests and One-dayers,” he added.
“There were a lot minor flaws in players techniques, which could have been settled during the month-long camp established at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) by the PCB, but no heed was paid to remove those flaws, which would be exposed during the series against Sri Lanka. There is no purpose of conducting such camps when no heed had to be paid on basics,” Mohsin stated.
“Pakistan has golden opportunity to defeat Sri Lankans who are now in transitional period as they will be consisting of mainly new or relatively inexperienced players, who will get huge boost in the presence of Mahela Jaywardeney and Kumar Sangakkara, while skipper Mattews will also add much-need depth in both batting and bowling. It will be a good contest between the two teams, who know each others’ weaknesses and had played against each other quite often. I still believe, Pakistan team has bright chances to win because Sri Lankans were beaten by the Proteas and now they have a point to prove. They will be desperate to perform well against the green shirts, which will put extra pressure on them and give extra edge to Pakistan,” he said.
“As far as advice to national team is concerned, I recommend them enter the match with positive and aggressive frame of mind. Pakistan team can’t afford any leniency which can spell disaster for their ambitions to win the series. Pakistan team needs victory badly to boost their confidence. I once again offer my sincere wishes to entire team as I want them return as victorious,” Mohsin concluded.