How do you see today’s match?
They’re (NZ) definitely a very strong side. They won all of their games. So we know they’re a strong side. If we can do our discipline right, like we did last game — batting, bowling, and fielding. Our ground fielding was really good, but unfortunately we dropped a lot of catches. If we do our discipline right, we can beat any side.
Where do you think NZ is most vulnerable?
They are a quality side. They’ve got a match spinner on their side. So with the ball, you know, it's crucial for us to take a wicket with the new ball. And when we bat, we need to get runs up front. So our top three is the most important for us. If we do our basics right, it’s just about us, not about them. We need to do our things right.
Would you use spinners more than fast bowlers?
We haven’t seen the pitch yet. We play two spinners anyway, and in our side, Haris can bowl as well and Hafeez. So we've got almost four spinners on the side. We'll see the pitch and assess the condition, and then we can use one thing against New Zealand. Change of pace is crucial.
As the bowling coach, what do you think has gone wrong with Hasan Ali.
Everyone in cricket, whether you’re a batsman or a bowler, you have bad form. He’s having a bad form. So he’s low on his confidence. He has self-doubt in his ability. So he’s running in, and he’s working hard on and off the field. You can see that. But it’s just a matter of getting two, three wickets, and he’ll be back.
Same thing happened to Ahmed, you know. After Champions Trophy, Ahmed was struggling, but he was bowling well. Now you see that he’s having a good time. It’s same thing happened to Hasan Ali as well.
What do you make of the pitch out there at the moment?
We played in this ground before in Champions Trophy. So we know the condition really well. We’ll find out today how the pitch look like. Maybe it’s like the game played here was a slightly drier pitch. Le’ts see under cover.
Courtesy: © ICC Business Corporation FZ LLC 2018