Azhar Ali says Pakistan were not aggressive enough in second ODI
Monday 16 November 2015 14:26, UK
Pakistan captain Azhar Ali has called on his team to adopt a more attacking approach when they face England in Tuesday's third one-day international in Sharjah.
The four-game series is level at 1-1 but Azhar is unhappy with the way his side batted during their 95-run loss in the second match in Abu Dhabi last Friday.
England posted a solid total of 283-5 that day before Pakistan could only limp to 188 all out in reply, Azhar himself taking 45 balls over his innings of 22.
"You can't win if you play like that," said Azhar on Monday. "We weren't aggressive enough.
"You expect 280-plus on that wicket, and you back yourself to chase that, but we didn't put pressure on their bowlers and were 19 after 10 overs.
"That was the main cause of the defeat, so we want to play lot more positively here. That is what you need in ODI cricket, we need to push on."
Pakistan have an unbeaten Test series record since switching their home base to the United Arab Emirates five years ago but have been far less successful in 50-over cricket and are languishing at eighth in the world rankings.
And Azhar says that injuries have made it difficult for them to build a settled and successful team.
"Our record in ODIs here in the UAE is not good and we want to change that," he said.
"Ideally, we want to have a set opening pair but unfortunately, in the last year or so, we've had a lot of injuries.
"We also had problems with our all-rounders. First [Mohammad] Hafeez is not allowed to bowl [due to an action that has been ruled illegal], and then Imad Wasim has an injury.
"It's created problems in picking the right combination.
"Under the new rules, with five fielders inside the circle, you need five proper bowlers. If there is a weak link, you can struggle to control the flow of runs.
"We are a better team than our ranking suggests but for now we are focused on this series. We will take it series by series and in future try to improve our ranking as well."
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Pakistan have been forced to use 11 different opening combinations in the last 12 months and another switch is possible, should they opt to replace Babar Azam with Ahmed Shehzad at the top of the order.
Leg-spinner Yasir Shah is nursing a knee injury and will be assessed before the match. If he is ruled out, Pakistan can bring in uncapped left-arm spinner Zafar Gohar, who is also a useful batsman.
