Afridi wants improvement

Pakistan skipper not happy with batting display against Canada

Last updated: 4th March 2011  

Afridi wants improvement

Afridi: was named man of the match

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Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi hopes the scare against Canada will give his side a "wake-up call" for the rest of the World Cup.

After electing to bat first, Pakistan could only manage a total of 184 all out and had to rely on their skipper to dig them out of trouble with a five-wicket haul.

Afridi maintains that he made the right decision after winning the toss and says the struggles his side experienced were all the fault of the batting line-up.

"It was a good decision to bat first but it wasn't good shot selection," the big-hitting all-rounder said after the match.

"It's all about responsibility. We needed partnerships but that's what we were missing and what the coach also was saying. Partnerships are very important.

"It's a very good wake-up call for us for the next game. Myself and coach Waqar Younis will talk to the boys and it will definitely not happen again.

"We are not going to repeat this batting performance again."

Disappointing

Canada skipper Ashish Bagai felt his side missed out on the chance of causing a major upset after laying the foundations for victory with a fine bowling performance.

"A very very disappointing loss for us. We did a good job with the ball," Bagai said.

"We lost one of our better bowlers initially, but the sixth bowler stepped up. Again with the fielding a good job.

"Batting worries continue and it was a chance to put up a good performance and we disappointed ourselves."

Bagai could still take heart from how competitive Canada were against a major Test playing nation, but that was of little consolation after the disappointing run chase, which ended with his side dismissed for 138.

He added: "Fighting is one thing but getting across that line is obviously taking it to another level.

"We had a chance to show everybody what we've put in over the last few years but we fell short."

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