Have to be at our best to beat India: Sarfraz Ahmed

An India vs Pakistan cricket match in any cricket tournament bills to be an intense contest and Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed on Sunday accepted the fact that they would have to be at their absolute best in all aspects of the game if they have to beat India come September 19.

The 2017 Champions Trophy winners secured a comfortable eight-wicket win over debutants Hong Kong in the Asia Cup but Ahmed singed out few facts that needs attention by his eam before they take the field against the Rohit Sharma- led Indian side.

“As a captain, I saw couple of things which we should work on. We should have finished this match with 9 or 10 wickets and we need to ball better with the new ball. Ball didn’t swing for us with the new ball, that is alarming for us,” Sarfraz said after his team’s win over Hong Kong, as quoted by The Indian Express.

“We will work on it in our next practice session. To win against India we have to be at our best in all the three departments,” he also said.

Young bowler Usman Khan was named Man-of-the-match for his triple strike in one over which led to Hong Kong collapsing with just 116 on the board.

Pakistan, in reply needed another 23.4 overs to comfortably knock off these runs with eight wickets remaining.

“When I came to bowl in the first spell, I tried to pick wickets with the new ball, but luck was not with me. Second spell, I got the ball to reverse swing and I managed to take wickets,” said Usman.

“It’s alright. I was bleeding from my feet but all is fine right now and I am fit. I just slipped a little bit so I thought it would be safe to get it checked,” he added further.

Usman further went on to state that he is satisfied with his performance and fees good with healthy competition within the team.
“I’m happy with the bowling and I managed to bowl like I wanted to. It’s fun to bowl with competition, some healthy competition amongst the bowlers, and we play our cricket from session to session and give our best at all times,” he said.

Hong Kong skipper Anshuman Rath justifiably wasn’t pleased with the way his batsmen performed.

He rued the fact that there were many soft dismissals that led to the team’s downfall.

“Lots of soft dismissals. 120 (116) was not enough. It was a good wicket. Credit goes to the Pakistan bowlers,” said Anshuman.

“Our offspinners are top class, but we just didn’t have enough runs on the board. I think early on, it swung a bit, there was a bit of bounce.

“We got through the start, but we couldn’t convert it. One fifty-run partnership is not enough to post a good total, ” he added further.