Middle-order is a concern, need to bat better: Salman Agha

Dubai, Sep 17 (PTI) Pakistan skipper Salman Agha on Wednesday admitted that his team’s middle-order remains a concern and said the batters will need to step up in upcoming matches, including the Super 4 clash against India in the Asia Cup.

Barring senior batter Fakhar Zaman (50 off 36 balls), Pakistan’s top-order failed once again. Mohammad Haris (18) and Shaheen Shah Afridi (29 not out off 14 balls) used the long handle to push them to 146 for nine. Their bowlers, however, ensured a 41-run win against a young UAE side in the final group league fixture.

“We got the job done but we still need to improve our batting in the middle order. That’s been a concern and something we need to work on. Apart from that, we did a good job,” Agha said at the post-match presentation.

“We haven’t batted at our best yet... we’re still just finding our way to 150. If we bat well in the middle overs, we can push it to 170 no matter the opposition." “We’re ready for any challenge and if we keep playing the way we have over the last four months, we’ll be good against any side. (on the upcoming match against India)," he said.

We lost the match due to our batting: UAE captain Muhammad Waseem =========================================== UAE skipper Muhammad Waseem praised his bowlers for restricting Pakistan to a modest total but blamed poor batting for the defeat.

“I would like to give credit to our bowlers. They bowled exceptionally well today and restricted them to a low total. We lost it in the batting. We were confident but I think losing three wickets in the powerplay hurt us,” he said.

“Up until the 15th or 16th over we were going well but then we lost our way. If we are taking responsibility, then everyone has to take responsibility—the middle order as well. I hope they do better in upcoming tournaments.

“Playing against Pakistan and India was a learning experience for us and we’ll look to apply those (learnings) going forward," Waseem added. PTI ATK DDV