Yousuf is happy with his batsmen’s top performance in Pindi Test

By our correspondent

KARACHI: Pakistan’s batting coach Mohammad Yousuf is very happy with the way his batsmen performed in the Rawalpindi Test against Australia, hoping the second Test in Karachi will be result-oriented.

“I am very happy with the way the batsmen clicked in the first Test,” Yousuf told a virtual news conference on Thursday.

“If we see, so it was the third game from Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq was also making a comeback and both delivered historic performance. Both shared hundred partnerships in both the innings. If we see Azhar Ali’s performance so I understand that the way he batted and showed experience was remarkable. Australians tested him with bouncers but he stood like a rock. When they tried to push him into discomfort zone he would bring them into his own comfort zone and this shows the experience he has. His 185-run innings helped the team a lot,” said Yousuf, also a former batting guru.

“The batsmen batted the way we wanted them to bat,” Yousuf said.

“Now we are in Karachi and it seems that on this wicket result will create,” Yousuf hoped. He said Karachi camp also helped the boys a lot in the first Test.

“Karachi camp also benefited the boys and the way the boys worked hard we got its result in the first Test. And I hope our batsmen will also bat well onwards,” Yousuf said.

Yousuf said that wickets should be prepared according to one’s own strength as hosts.

“Fans have their own thinking but you will have to play according to your strength. We never get things of our choice when we go to Australia. We will have to look how we can dominate the oppositions. In 15 sessions of the Pindi Test, in 12 we dominated Australia and we played as per our strength,” he said.

“Wherever you go in the world the hosts prepare wickets according to their strength and we also should make wickets according to our strength,” he stressed. He lauded the calibre of Abdullah Shafique as a batsman.

“The way he has got the start, he is playing top cricket. He is talented and it is hoped that he will play long. He has utilized his strength and potential. He also batted well in the first innings. He also admonished himself when he got out with that shot. We cannot get angry during the match because we are to give confidence to the players. The more we will listen to the players the more we will get from them the performance,” Yousuf said.

“During lunch when I asked him what happened, Abdullah told the whole story and in the second innings he batted in the same way he was talking about,” he said.

Yousuf said that they will try to do certain things which could enable their batsmen to score runs on any surface.

“Look, Australia faced defeats in India. Obviously when you come out of your home you have to play on different surfaces. Some teams cope with the challenges but mostly teams face issues. We will try to keep our players in confidence and also keep doing certain things at home so that when our team goes abroad so it could also perform well,” Yousuf said.

“In the past there are so many players who scored runs while playing off-shore. InshaAllah we will give confidence to these boys, will keep them engaged and I hope they will perform. In Pakistan always such kinds of wickets have been prepared,” Yousuf added.