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Forced to test its bench strength because of an injury to left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman and batting mainstay Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi said: “There will be some changes (for the game against Canada.)”
Pakistan takes on Canada in a day-night encounter at the R. Premadasa stadium here on Thursday, with the players on the bench likely to get a chance to acclimatise to the conditions in Sri Lanka since there is no serious pressure on the team.
Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal is likely to be Rehman's replacement while a decision on Misbah would be taken after the team meeting. Misbah did not field against Sri Lanka on Saturday but Afridi said Misbah's injury — a pulled hamstring — was not serious.
Ahmed Shehzad's current form has been a cause for concern. If his current run continues (1 and 13 in the first two matches), he would come a full circle — he had displaced Kamran Akmal in 2009 and now would find himself ousted by Kamran.
The team management was not willing to commit on Shehzad but Afridi made it clear that Canada would not be taken lightly. Pakistan has made the mistake of taking teams lightly in the past, like in the 2007 World Cup and was homebound soon after.
While individual form remains a matter of concern, it is the team's sordid performance on the field that is a major cause for concern. Afridi himself has been very shoddy reaching the ball at mid-off on two occasions, one in each match, and then, bending down and picking up air in both matches; and his team has literally taken the cue from him.
Need to improve
He is worried. “If we keep making mistakes like this, we will end up in Pakistan sooner than we think. We need to improve…We cannot take this fielding to the remaining matches,” he said when asked about the dropped catches in the match against Sri Lanka.
But he sees improvement. Believe Afridi when he says the team was much worse in New Zealand, and still won the series. Afridi saw the positives and said the team had improved since then.
Afridi agreed the team did relax on the field because of the opposition in the first match (Kenya) and because Sri Lanka had lost the cream of its batting before hundred was on the board. “The boys became relaxed. I told them they should not. We have to get better by the day because we will have tougher matches ahead,” he said and added he was aware that a large percentage of games were won on the strength of the fielding.
After losses in successive games in Sri Lanka and India, Canada goes into the third match with a prayer and on the strength of a lot of practice. The team desperately wants its only century maker, John Davison to come good.
Rizwan Cheema has been in great form, but has not been able to convert any of his starts into a good score largely because he gets zero support from the rest of the team.
The team had a good start to the tournament at Sooriyawewa, bowling well on a flat track and making the Sri Lankan batsmen unduly cautious.
That phase did not last long enough for the team to reap any dividends.
Captain Ashish Bagai wants the ICC to help Canada play more matches against the top teams — a demand that has echoed among all associate members.
Canada does not need a miracle to do better; just plain practice against the top teams.
The teams (from):
Pakistan: Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq, Ahmed Shehzad, Asad Shafiq, Junaid Khan, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz and Younis Khan.
Canada: A. Bagai, R. Cheema, H.S. Baidwan, W.D. Balaji Rao, J. Davison, P. Desai, T. Gordon, R. Gunasekera, A.S. Hansra, Khurram Chohan, N.R. Kumar, H. Osinde, H. Patel, Z.E. Surkari, K. Whatham.
Umpires: Daryl Harper and Nigel Llong; Third umpire: Tony Hill; Match Referee: Chris Broad.
Match starts at 2.30 p.m.
Pakistan takes on Canada in a day-night encounter at the R. Premadasa stadium here on Thursday, with the players on the bench likely to get a chance to acclimatise to the conditions in Sri Lanka since there is no serious pressure on the team.
Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal is likely to be Rehman's replacement while a decision on Misbah would be taken after the team meeting. Misbah did not field against Sri Lanka on Saturday but Afridi said Misbah's injury — a pulled hamstring — was not serious.
Ahmed Shehzad's current form has been a cause for concern. If his current run continues (1 and 13 in the first two matches), he would come a full circle — he had displaced Kamran Akmal in 2009 and now would find himself ousted by Kamran.
The team management was not willing to commit on Shehzad but Afridi made it clear that Canada would not be taken lightly. Pakistan has made the mistake of taking teams lightly in the past, like in the 2007 World Cup and was homebound soon after.
While individual form remains a matter of concern, it is the team's sordid performance on the field that is a major cause for concern. Afridi himself has been very shoddy reaching the ball at mid-off on two occasions, one in each match, and then, bending down and picking up air in both matches; and his team has literally taken the cue from him.
Need to improve
He is worried. “If we keep making mistakes like this, we will end up in Pakistan sooner than we think. We need to improve…We cannot take this fielding to the remaining matches,” he said when asked about the dropped catches in the match against Sri Lanka.
But he sees improvement. Believe Afridi when he says the team was much worse in New Zealand, and still won the series. Afridi saw the positives and said the team had improved since then.
Afridi agreed the team did relax on the field because of the opposition in the first match (Kenya) and because Sri Lanka had lost the cream of its batting before hundred was on the board. “The boys became relaxed. I told them they should not. We have to get better by the day because we will have tougher matches ahead,” he said and added he was aware that a large percentage of games were won on the strength of the fielding.
After losses in successive games in Sri Lanka and India, Canada goes into the third match with a prayer and on the strength of a lot of practice. The team desperately wants its only century maker, John Davison to come good.
Rizwan Cheema has been in great form, but has not been able to convert any of his starts into a good score largely because he gets zero support from the rest of the team.
The team had a good start to the tournament at Sooriyawewa, bowling well on a flat track and making the Sri Lankan batsmen unduly cautious.
That phase did not last long enough for the team to reap any dividends.
Captain Ashish Bagai wants the ICC to help Canada play more matches against the top teams — a demand that has echoed among all associate members.
Canada does not need a miracle to do better; just plain practice against the top teams.
The teams (from):
Pakistan: Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq, Ahmed Shehzad, Asad Shafiq, Junaid Khan, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz and Younis Khan.
Canada: A. Bagai, R. Cheema, H.S. Baidwan, W.D. Balaji Rao, J. Davison, P. Desai, T. Gordon, R. Gunasekera, A.S. Hansra, Khurram Chohan, N.R. Kumar, H. Osinde, H. Patel, Z.E. Surkari, K. Whatham.
Umpires: Daryl Harper and Nigel Llong; Third umpire: Tony Hill; Match Referee: Chris Broad.
Match starts at 2.30 p.m.