Afridi has struggled to score runs this year
Former Pakistan all-rounder Azhar Mahmood has called on Imran Nazir, Shahid Afridi and Umar Akmal to concentrate and play smarter while batting.
Mahmood noted that even though all three of them were extremely talented batsmen, their one-minded approach to the game would not help Pakistan in the future.
In terms of Nazir, Mahmood stated that he has to learn to play more orthodox strokes instead of trying to hit every ball out of the ground.
In an interview with Pakpassion.net, Mahmood said: “Imran Nazir is very talented but he needs to use his head – he needs to think that if he faces fifty deliveries he will get eighty or ninety runs, but it seems that all he wants to do is to hit the ball out of the ground from ball 1! What Imran needs to do is to stay at the crease with a calm mind and use his talent. Instead if he doesn’t use his head then he will get those ten or twelve run scores which are not good for the team.”
Mahmood noted that Afridi should also take the same advice if he is to have any chance of recovering from the recent slump he has experienced in the past couple of months.
“Shahid Afridi is another such case and that really is nothing new. Everybody knows that Afridi has not been performing well as a batsman recently. However, he needs to apply the same advice that I have for Imran Nazir,” Mahmood said.
Mahmood also explained that the shot selection of all three batsmen should be improved drastically for future series.
“In addition shot selection is very important in T20 cricket – I think a lot of Pakistani players are not doing this and both Nazir and Afridi are guilty of this problem, as is Umar Akmal,” Mahmood added.
Mahmood further mentioned that Akmal was making the same mistakes as Afridi and Nazir.
“Umar also seems to be making the same mistakes. The aforementioned cricketers are so talented but they just don’t seem to be using their minds and their experience when by now they should be experienced enough to know how to approach T20 cricket,” Mahmood said.