KINGSTON, March 16: Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer said on Friday he was looking for a better performance from his batsmen in the coming World Cup games against Ireland and Zimbabwe.

“Our top-order batting was disappointing and so it became hard for the middle order in the West Indies match,” he told reporters.

Pakistan lost by 54 runs in the opening game of the competition at the Sabina Park here on Tuesday.

“It’s really disappointing at 17-2 and 39-3 and it put the middle order batting under pressure,” Woolmer, speaking on Pakistan’s dismal batting, pointed out. “But we have spoken to the youngsters, who are not young anymore but two experienced cricketers — Imran Nazir and Mohammad Hafeez.

“Mohammad Yousuf was unlucky to get a faint edge but it happens in such a situation and that’s why we lost,” Woolmer stated.

He stressed that the team’s main objective is not only to reach the Super Eights stage but go beyond it.

The coach, meanwhile, complimented the bowlers’ show against the West Indies. “Our bowlers performed magnificently apart from one or two lapses. Rao Iftikhar and Umar Gul bowled really beautifully; they put us in a good position when they reduced the West Indies to 77-3 in 25 overs. We could check them but Ramnaresh Sarwan and Marlon Samuels played well and that made the difference in the game,” he added.

Commenting on keeping Imran Nazir in the team Woolmer said the right-hander is an opening batsman, adding the selection committee has picked him. “If we don’t retain him, what should we do with him,” he questioned.

“Other options are Shahid Afridi, who is not available for selection, and Kamran Akmal. But why should we drop Imran after just one bad game?” he asked.

“His performance against South Africa was long ago. Forget it for two reasons forget any tour,” Woolmer said about Imran. “Past is history; you can’t do any thing about it. Just try and give him the chance and allow him to do that job,” he stressed. “If he gains form he can be very useful in the next round. But we cannot allow people coming in and going out; and the World Cup rules don’t allow doing that,” he commented.

“Razzaq’s injury was one of the huge blows for us. But it’s time for us to give Azhar Mahmood an opportunity to get the place of Razzaq,” he opined.—APP