Pakistan coach Dav Whatmore on Sunday said he was happy with the team’s progress in the shortest format of the game ahead of this month’s World Twenty20, saying the team was responding well.
Pakistan pulled off a sensational super over win against Australia in the second Twenty20 here on Friday, taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series with the final match also in Dubai on Monday.
Whatmore said it was good to have wins on the board. “I am very much delighted,” Whatmore told reporters. “We can’t do any more than to win two out of two, it was an exciting finish but it’s good to have the experience of the super over leading up to the World Twenty20.”
The 58-year-old former Australian batsman said his team responded well after losing the preceding one-day series 2-1. “We played consistent cricket and the players have responded well after the ODIs because there was just one day in between the change of the format,” said Whatmore, who took over in March this year.
“There is a very strong bond between the players, that’s very good and they support each other and are ready to play for each other and for the country,” said Whatmore, who also coached Sri Lanka to the 1996 World Cup title.
Whatmore said he was sure of the team’s combination for the World Twenty20, where Pakistan is in Group D along with Bangladesh and New Zealand. “I am sure of the combination. We certainly need to know the conditions in Kandy where our first two matches are to pick the best combination. We don’t have easy opponents because we think all the teams are tough,” said Whatmore.
Whatmore hinted Pakistan might not risk Shahid Afridi on Monday after the allrounder injured his left hand in the third one-day but was confident off-spinner Saeed Ajmal will recover from a shoulder problem.
Australian batsman Cameron White said his team was preparing well for the World Twenty20 despite dropping in the rankings below Ireland.
“The bigger picture from the preparation point of view is that we are experiencing tough conditions and similar conditions to what we are going to experience in Sri Lanka,” said White, former Twenty20 captain.
“Obviously we have not been winning, but we have made great steps from the first game to the second and I think we are heading in the right direction. From a prepration point of view it is fantastic,” said White.
