Pakistan’s chances of winning their first series against Sri Lanka on their home turf for the first time in eight years hinges on the performance of touring team’s batsmen and on their mindset, former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif said here on Monday.
“Pakistan batting has always been vulnerable. However, if they play well and click together using their full potential they have chances to upset the Sri Lankans [in the forthcoming two-Test series] on their home soil,” Rashid said in an interview.
However, Rashid reckoned, it would be a big challenge for Misbah-ul-Haq and company to overcome Angelo Mathews-led Sri Lanka which the former Test wicket-keeper stressed were a well-balanced and experienced combination of players.
He said Pakistan batsmen might be cautious noting several of them would be vying for national selection for the 2015 World Cup.
“This cautious approach in Test matches may benefit as well as prove otherwise in the interest of the team,” he observed. “In this scenario, the mindset of our batsmen will be crucial in deciding the outcome of the series [in Sri Lanka].”
Noting there were several new faces in the national team management, Rashid emphasised that the players should adjust with them quickly in order to achieve desired results.
Rashid, a veteran of 37 Tests and 166 ODIs, favoured using Ahmed Shehzad and Khurram Manzoor as openers in the Sri Lanka Tests.
“Ahmed is an attacking batsmen while Khurram grafts his innings which is good,” he pointed out while rating Misbah and Younis Khan as the backbone of team’s batting line-up.
Aggressive intent is what Rashid wants to see in the Pakistan captain.
“I want attacking mindset from Misbah, as captain as well as a batsman. This will leave good impression on his team members as well as on the opposition,” he stressed.
Rashid considered Pakistan bowling better than their batting. However, he cautioned that Saeed Ajmal might not prove a major threat for the Lankans as they had played a lot of cricket against him.
“Saeed should be more positive and should bowl over the wicket with the middle and off line instead of containing line employed in ODIs.”
He said though young pacemen Junaid Khan, Wahab Riaz, Rahat Ali and Mohammad Talha lacked experience but could still pose a threat to Sri Lankan batting.
As for Sri Lanka, Rashid had no hesitation in picking warhorses Mahela Jayarwardene and Kumar Sangakkara as pillars of the hosts’ batting line-up, adding “if our bowlers dismiss these two batsmen early they can put pressure on the home team.”
He said left-arm spinner Ranagna Herath could pose problems for Pakistan batting, something which he had done in the past as well.
