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KARACHI: Former captain Zaheer Abbas has defended skipper Misbah-ul-Haq for Pakistan’s 1-2 loss to England in the three-match T20 International series against England.
“You cannot solely blame Misbah for defeat,” said Zaheer upon his return from Dubai after watching the T20 series.
“There were other reasons for the loss including the dot balls played by Umar Akmal in crunch moments,” he said on Thursday. Zaheer, known as Asian Bradman, also supported Misbah’s decision of promoting himself in the batting order during the last ODI.
“We needed a batsman like Misbah at the crease keeping in mind Pakistan’s fragile batting. He (Misbah) played his role admirably well and so did Asad Shafiq which took our side very close to victory,” he said.
Zaheer lamented Umar Akmal’s unimpressive batting and said his dismissal at a crucial time in the last game also increased pressure on the other batsmen. “I feel that Umar Akmal is quite overrated at his stage. You cannot compare some player with Sir Viv Richards or other great batsmen until he proves himself in pressure situations and against top class bowling,” said Zaheer.
“Also, Shahid Afridi also ran himself out when he jumped to make the crease and that cost us too.”
Zaheer further said besides batting, Pakistan’s other grey area continued to be their fielding. “Our fielding fails to improve. I just hope new coach Dav Whatmore works on preparing good back-ups in batting and improves fielding.”—APP
