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SHARJAH: Skipper Sarfraz Ahmed on Friday said Pakistan had one of the best bowling attacks in the world and that had played a key role in his side surging to a 4-0 lead in the ODI series against Sri Lanka with just one match remaining.
Pakistan’s seven-wicket win in Sharjah on Friday continued their run of success in ODIs that had begun with the ICC Champions Trophy which they had won handsomely.
In their last 11 matches, only India has managed to score more than 250 against Pakistan — in the opening encounter of the Champions Trophy when they piled up 319. After that, however, Pakistan have gone on to dominate every team with their formidable bowling attack, dismissing South Africa for 219, Sri Lanka for 237, England for 211 in the semi-final, India for 158 in the final while in the current series Sri Lanka have been dismissed for 209, 187, 208 and 173.
“Yes, you can say that we have one of the best bowling attacks in the world,” said Sarfraz. “The way our bowling is performing, since the Champions Trophy, we have bowled teams out for less than 240 and have then chased it down well.”
Sarfraz singled out Hasan Ali, who became the joint third fastest bowler to reach 50 ODI wickets.
“We should praise the bowlers, especially Hasan, the way he is bowling and improving day by day. He is now world number one, so I wish he maintains that and do well to win us more matches,” said Sarfraz.
Looking ahead, Sarfraz said the eventual goal in mind for the team is the 2019 World Cup and hoped the team would grow even stronger by then.
“I am excited,” he said. “I think the World Cup is still far away, one and a half years away. But still, we are looking to build towards that event and if we play like this, it will be a strong combination by then.”—wisden.pk
Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2017
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Comments (47) Closed
Oct 22, 2017 10:01am
All the indicators on ICC's ODI ranking suggest a noticeable improvement. Hassan Ali being the best ODI bowler, Babar Azam on 4th slot in batsmen ranking and the ageless Hafeez on top of the all-rounders' chart. Pakistan team is definitely re-emerging. Wish they continue the hard work with committment.
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Oct 22, 2017 10:33am
Give me a break, we do not have the likes of Wasim, Shoaib so let's not praise too much and wait till you play with a top team to see how good they are. Also, i would pay attention to the top 3 players who are continuously failing and we need to bring in better players sitting on the sidelines.
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Oct 22, 2017 11:14am
And there should absolutely be no doubt about that Skipper! Rohit sharmas may rate Bumrah better than ferocious and skillful Muhammad Amir but the world knows that there is absolutely no comparison
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Oct 22, 2017 12:00pm
Such statements are complete senseless; just winning few ODI against SL in UAE doesn’t make Pak bowling attack as world’s best. Remember same bowling attack lost both test matches.
Sarfraz must stop issuing such foolish statements!
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Oct 22, 2017 12:22pm
Stay focussed, remain consistent!
Love you boys and the PCB undet Sethi!
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Oct 22, 2017 12:22pm
Pakistan team playing more and more matches before the world cup is honing their skills. Hope that Pakistan and India meet in final.
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Oct 22, 2017 12:25pm
In the current series Hafeez has played a major role in the bowling department.But now he is under scrutiny.
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Oct 22, 2017 12:57pm
Great man, Great captain- is Sarfaraz.
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Oct 22, 2017 01:31pm
Here we go again, long forgotten is the defeat in test cricket, back to boasting
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Oct 22, 2017 01:32pm
Wait Sarfaraz, before making such a proclaimation. Just a week ago Pakistan's same "world's best" bowling attack was torn apart by Sri Lanka in tests. Do not forget it so fast.
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Oct 22, 2017 01:58pm
Umm.. what happened in the test matches.. ?
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Oct 22, 2017 02:01pm
Praise should come other countries.
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Oct 22, 2017 02:10pm
Yes that's why SL won 2 tests
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Oct 22, 2017 02:19pm
This is our problem. A couple of good performance and we go shouting our mouth off. Speaking with your performance is unheard of in these parts.
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Oct 22, 2017 02:59pm
Tests areva different type of game
What happened in the tests?
The bowling performed the batting didn't
Still does not change the fact that the bowling attack is formidable and he's not far wrong when he says it's the best in the world.
If the bowlers are given a decent target to bowl at they will even humiliate teams who think they have the best batting attack in the world or have you people forgotten the ct final
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Oct 22, 2017 03:00pm
Its too early to make a bold statement like that for the green-shirts skipper. Please be patient, calm and composed for the time being and show the world your tenacity, talents and maturity by winning some more cricket series against top teams like Australia and South Africa in their backyards before making a daring declaration like that.
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Oct 22, 2017 03:16pm
Too much talking.... Not too good.
Let others talk about you.
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Oct 22, 2017 03:22pm
Please stop talking and show us some good quality cricket. Most times it's like watching club level team.
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Oct 22, 2017 03:27pm
@Arvind in One Days, Pakistan certainly have a great attack... check the teams they have struggled against our variety
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Oct 22, 2017 03:53pm
Unity, discipline and good combination is the key to success. If the Pakistani team continues to adhere these principles, sure they will be the winners.
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Oct 22, 2017 03:57pm
Funny how a few fans are critisizing Surfaraz for a test match series defeat that is altogether a different ball game to ODIs. I think what Sarfarz is trying to do here is to motivate his team which deserves its captain's praise, but rather more importantly Sarfarz is presenting a roadmap for the people which use to miss previously under other captains. Cherish guys what must be cherished...
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Oct 22, 2017 03:59pm
Real test of bowlers can be seen on fast wicket of Australia and South Africa.
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Oct 22, 2017 04:01pm
Real bowling can be tested on fast wicket of Australia and South Africa
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Oct 22, 2017 04:16pm
I think this guy has been getting some training lessons from Shaharyar Khan in making comments.
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Oct 22, 2017 04:45pm
Pakistan poor selection of the test team cost us the test series against Sri Lanka?
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Oct 22, 2017 05:24pm
Yup.. Pakistans is factory of good fast bowlers but batting, fieldings is pathetic like club cricket.
Need to improvement in other department.
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Oct 22, 2017 05:30pm
@Raja Sarfraz is a new captain to test cricket - he will learn and grow match by match. He was talking about ODIs and yet stats are phenomenal.
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Oct 22, 2017 05:31pm
the poor team selection caused us the test series against Sri Lanka.
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Oct 22, 2017 05:41pm
@Raja , we must remind them that the Test series is far more important then ODI series and losing test series against minnows on our own suited conditions is not a good sign.
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Oct 22, 2017 05:42pm
Very immature statement from a captain. Always been the problem of boasting when achieving minor success. Surely education plays a major role in giving a balanced mindset. Sarfaraz can make such statements when his team performs against best sides. He shouldn't forget how Pakistan lost in the test series also the 400 runs scored by England
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Oct 22, 2017 06:04pm
@Pure ind you wrote " when achieving minor success " beating India in the champions trophy was not a big deal but please dont call the Indian team a minor team. Indian team is not the best but also not minor team as you suggessted.
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Oct 22, 2017 07:28pm
Get rid of Hafeez, Wahab and Shehzad... they are burden and liabilities;
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Oct 22, 2017 07:44pm
Self-praise (playing against # ODI team) is no recommendation.
Play against the top teams and you will get the right answer.
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Oct 22, 2017 07:52pm
@Pakistani -- Sarfraz should learn to do it in the team setting and no more. Very off the cuff and baseless comment. He has no experience as a captain. Period.
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Oct 22, 2017 08:24pm
Pakistan had one of the best bowling attacks in the world "
Did we see one of the best bowling line up in actual test which is test match just a week earlier.
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Oct 22, 2017 08:28pm
@Sheraz
Rohit sharmas may rate Bumrah better than ferocious and skillful Muhammad Amir but the world knows that there is absolutely no comparison "
May I request you to just look at the two test match series ,and let the readers know achievement of Amir.In four innings just one wicket.For sure there isn't any comparisum .
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Oct 22, 2017 09:50pm
By beating Lanka in ODI's and claim come that we are best bowling unit. These guys claim too much then please also that you are the worst bowling and batting unit in Tests as you lost 2-0 by same Sri Lankan team.
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Oct 22, 2017 10:10pm
@Sheraz That is the problem with the Pakistani players. They always speak in superlative terms about themselves. No doubt there ware and are still now some great players in Pakistan. But the word 'best' should be used cautiously. During the heyday of Imran Khan he was considered by the Pakistani commentators as the fasted bowler in the world. He was definitely one of the best, but not the 'best'. My idea is not to underrate Pakistani cricketers, but only to emphasis on objectivity while making comparison.
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Oct 22, 2017 11:00pm
@A.K. Das so sorry, i have no idea what these sports terms mean or any idea who the peeps are. they could be any one of thousands of shheads
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Oct 23, 2017 01:24am
read again. He is saying that we are one of the best ODI bowling attacks in the world...not the best. True. Test losses against SL have more to do about batsman unable to score 125-130 runs.
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Oct 23, 2017 07:42am
Excellent tactic brotha! haters aint gonna like it but thats the way to go. Mind games.
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Oct 23, 2017 09:20am
Too much Self-Praise is a National Trait of Pakistan.
Pakistan has ONLY ONE Bowler each in the lists of Top 20 Bowlers in Tests, ODIs and in T20s. Other top teams have three or more in each list. Then how can Pakistan
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Oct 23, 2017 09:39am
hahah .2-0 forgot so easily best bowling line up ..lolz
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Oct 23, 2017 10:14am
That was a gift bache@Soh. Hassan, Junaid, Ruman, shadab didnt even play those test. Skipper is right Pakistan has the best bowlers. Hassan for Odi, Imad for t20, hafeez for t20. Man we own this game.
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Oct 23, 2017 10:59am
Oh Really?The same team that went 444 for 3 wickets? Give me a break!
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Oct 23, 2017 04:33pm
I love Assamese cuisine.
It's delicious.
Try some at Aliz at downtown Guwahati.
And I love football too.
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Oct 23, 2017 07:54pm
@soh Pakistan has always had a very strong bowling attack. The difference between now and 10 to 20 years back is fast bowlers. However, that is replaced by incredible bowling variety. Best of luck with the series with New Zealand. I think India is down the first ODI game.
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