September 12, 2007	Wednesday	Sha'aban 29, 1428

DURBAN, Sept 11: Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar’s absence will not affect Pakistan’s approach in the ICC World Twenty20 tournament, coach Geoff Lawson said on Tuesday.

Shoaib was sent home on Friday after a dressing-room altercation with Mohammad Asif.

“It threatens to be less entertaining without Shoaib, probably, and certainly less interesting from the team’s point of view,” Lawson told a news conference. “But we’ve got some outstanding fast bowlers in our squad. It’s not going to affect how we approach the game, our tactics will be the same.”

Lawson said Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi will be the ones to watch in the Pakistani set-up during the competitive event. Sporting a well-trimmed beard, the former Aussie pacer added: “The secret is you have to be flexible. We’ve got a couple of batsmen who can score runs quickly. That’s a great strength of ours.”

”We’ve got Afridi who can score 50 off 15 balls against any attack. Whether we decide to bring him in to face as many balls as possible is a tactical decision. But flexibilty is the key. The explosiveness of Afridi is a huge advantage in this competition.

Commenting on Umar Gul’s return to the fold after a lengthy spell on the sidelines due to injury, Lawson said: “He has been bowling very fast and with a great deal of control. We’ve had five warm-up games in the last days or so and Gul has been outstanding. We are very pleased.”

Lawson insisted that Pakistan had moved on from their first-round exit from the 2007 World Cup, which will be remembered for the death of Lawson’s predecessor, Bob Woolmer, in Jamaica.

“You’ve got to use the experience of what happened to you in your past but this group has drawn a line under that,” he said.

“They’ve prepared really well. They’re responding to our fitness trainer fantastically and the attitude’s great. Everyone’s in the right frame of mind to move forward.”—Agencies