Castries, April 28: Following the disastrous tour of Australia last summer, skipper Shahid Afridi believes he has united the Pakistani team and intends to lead a reversal of fortunes in Sunday’s clash against the Michael Clarke’s men.
Pakistan lost all the three Tests, five one-day internationals and two Twenty20 games in Australia. Disappointed with their poor show down under, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) indefinitely suspended captain Mohammad Yousuf and former skipper Younus Khan, while Shoaib Malik and Naved-ul-Hasan were banned for a year, and Afridi and the Akmal brothers were fined and placed on probation for six months.
”We have been going through some difficult times with guys being suspended and fined, but this time it’s a new captain,” Afridi said. ”The first thing I was thinking was to keep the guys united, the communication gap between the players was too much, so I tried to make it as close as possible. I think (the problems are) gone now. ”We are all professionals, we can’t carry these things. We are all here with fresh minds, we’re here to play good cricket,” he said.
The Pakistani skipper believes his spinners can rattle the powerful Australian batting order.
”In the West Indies the pitches are like the subcontinent, so I think this could be an advantage,” he added.
——-Agencies