Azhar Ali Reckons Pakistan Can Beat England If They Post Totals Around 300
Updated - 28 Jun 2020, 03:00 PM
Azhar Ali, Pakistan Test captain, is confident that his side can give England a run for its money if his batting-unit can manage to put together 300 runs on a consistent basis.
Pakistan is set to tour England for a series of three Tests and as many T20Is and the Azhar Ali-led team will be looking to notch up its first series win in the country since 1996.
“I think that if our batting can put together totals around 300 or more we have the potential to beat England. On recent tours we have made strong comebacks and done well there,” Azhar Ali said at the media conference before his team’s departure to England.
Pakistan has a rookie pace attack but Azhar Ali isn’t too bothered about it as he thinks that the likes of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Muhammad Hasnain, or Naseem Shah have immense potential to succeed in English conditions.
“I believe we have a pace-cum-spin attack which can give England a run for their money. Youngsters like Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah or Muhammad Hasnain have immense potential to succeed in English conditions while we have plenty of experience as well in our bowling,” he added.
“No one knows better than us”- Azhar Ali on playing in empty stadiums
Ali also reckoned that the ban on the use of saliva on the ball will not have any bearing in the England series since the Dukes have a wax coating and hence the shine remains for a longer period of time.
“I don’t think not being able to use saliva to shine the ball is a big problem. Pace bowlers usually sweat a lot and plus the Duke ball has a lot of wax coating so the shine remains for a long time and it can be polished with sweat,” Azhar Ali said.
“Bowlers get natural movement with the Duke ball in English conditions and not being able to use saliva means our bowlers can also try to reverse swing it more,” he said.
Talking about playing in empty stadiums, the veteran opener added that his team is accustomed to it during their past ten-year home Tests in the UAE.
“No one knows better than us what it is like to bat in an empty stadium,” Ali said.
