‘There are some silver linings from the series’: Pakan T20 captain Salman Ali Agha backs new faces after 1-4 drubbing against New Zealand | Cricket News

Pakan’s new T20 captain Salman Ali Agha said he was not disheartened about his team’s performance where they lost 1-4 to hosts New Zealand, adding that the new players will eventually find their feet in the team. Pakan are currently in a transition phase in the shortest format with stalwarts like Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam not getting selected for the New Zealand tour.
“Look the conditions in New Zealand are normally challenging with the bounce, pace and movement in the pitches, so for players coming to play here for the first time it is always going to be difficult,” Agha said after his side lost he fifth and final T20I against the Kiwis on Wednesday.
“It was not easy for them to bat in these conditions. There are some silver linings from the series and some concerns as well but we have to address them before we go into the Asia Cup later this year,” he said.
Story continues below this ad
Salman, who was in good form in the series and scored a half century on Wednesday, said that it was necessary for players to understand that with aggression and intent they also have to use their minds.
“We didn’t play sensible cricket in the series most of the time and got out to bad shots. But with more exposure these new young players will learn and we have to be patient.”
Mohammad Haris, Hasan Nawaz, Irfan Khan Niazi, Abdul Samad, Omair bin Yousuf (who played on Wednesday), Jahandad Khan and Sufiyan Muqeem were the relatively new faces in the squad. Muqeem, a left-arm wr spinner, played in his only game on Wednesday and ended with impressive figures of 2-0-6-2 despite a batting onslaught from Tim Seifert who scored 97 from just 38 balls with 10 sixes.
(With agency inputs)