Pakistan looking to take revenge in new format

After suffering an awful 3-0 whitewash in Tests, Pakistan team is looking to redeem respect by doing something special in the T20s.

Under the command of new skipper Mohammad Hafeez, the Cornered Tigers are all set to dish out revenge. They were really terrible in the Tests, and completely failed to put up any fight.

The shortest version of the game, however, suits the Green Shirts. With the inclusion of Akmal brothers and other aggressive batsmen like Ahmad Shehzad and Shahid Afridi, the tourists hold every weapon to destroy the opponents.

But the Proteas are full of rhythm. Faf du Plessis is aiming high after taking the charge. The home side also has some great T20 players, and will not prove an easy opposition.

On paper, South Africa are the favourites, because everything looks in their favour. The Proteas know the conditions well, and hold great confidence under their belt.

But it is hard to rule out the element of unpredictability in the visiting side. The Pakistan line-up is full of match winners, who can crush any opposition on their day. Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq are not there anymore, but the experience of Afridi and
Shoaib Malik would prove crucial.

"We are practising skills now that we want to be better at in six to ten games time. It’s not going to happen now because we don’t have a lot of time together as a T20 squad," says
South Africa’s new captain Faf du Plessis.

"We are really missing crowd support because we don’t play cricket at home. If we can get some support, it will be good," shared
Mohammed Hafeez.

Pakistan: (probable) 1 Nasir Jamshed, 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Mohammed Hafeez (capt), 4 Umar Akmal, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Kamran Akmal (wk), 7 Shahid Afridi, 8, Wahab Riaz/Juniad Khan 9 Umar Gul, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Mohammed Irfan

South Africa: (probable) 1 AB de Villiers (wk), 2 Henry Davids, 3 Faf du Plessis (capt), 4 Justin Ontong, 5 David Miller, 6 Farhaan Behardien, 7 Chris Morris, 8 Robin Peterson, 9 and 10 Rory Kleinveldt/Kyle Abbott/Ryan McLaren, 11 Lonwabo
Tsotsobe

South Africa are currently at number 5, whereas Pakistan are at number 6 on the ICC T20 rankings. The two teams have met six times in the shortest version, with each side winning three.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=38689

Posted by Rana Nasir Ghafoor on Mar 1 2013. Filed under Pakistan, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry