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NOTTINGHAM: Mohammad Amir is fit and available for Pakistan’s match against West Indies at Trent Bridge on Friday, said skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed in a press conference.
Earlier, it was reported that Mohammad Amir was unfit and would not be available for the match against West Indies.
Sarfraz said the team is ready for their first match of the tournament. “I will bat at number 5,” the skipper told reporters, “the batting order could be changed according to the situation though.”
Ahmed said that he has set his eyes on a victorious start in World Cup. Pakistan has lost its last 10 ODIs consecutively against England, Australia and South Africa. However, the skipper is hopeful of ending this streak when team takes the field against Windies.
‘I am looking forward to a good start tomorrow. Boys are prepared well and we are hopeful of a good show at Trent Bridge on Friday,’ Sarfaraz told media in Nottingham after team’s three-hour long training session at Trent Bridge.
Sarfaraz also confirmed that Mohammad Aamir, who bowled with full energy at the nets on Thursday, is fully fit and available for selection for Pakistan’s opening game in cricket’s pinnacle.
He, however, added that team selection has not been an easy task as all the players are fully fit and been in good form.
‘It is a difficult task, for sure. We have our XI in mind but we will see here in the morning how things are before making a final call,’ the Pakistan captain added.
The Pakistan captain added that he’s anticipating a high scoring match between Pakistan and Windies while backing his team’s batting abilities.
‘A lot of people said that our batting strike rate wasn’t good. Compare with England, if they played with SR of 140, ours was 120. So, that’s not a big difference. May be our style of game is different, but I am happy with the way our batting has been performing this season,” he said.
‘Cricket has changed and now 300+ scores seem easy too. When we came here first for practice and asked the ground-staff about par-score, we were told that it would be around 480,’ he revealed.
Replying to a question, Sarfaraz said that he’s hoping for different wickets in World Cup that the ones he got in bilateral series against England. He went on saying that teams winning toss would prefer to opt for fielding in the tournament.
He also defended Pakistan’s under-fire bowling attack that was under criticism during series against England.
‘I don’t think our bowling line is poor. They all are very good. There may be some issues with executions but I am sure we have worked hard to overcome all the shortcomings in each department of game,’ he said.
‘Having Wahab and Aamir in lineup surely gives us more strength,’ he said adding that it is important to get wickets if you want to contain your opponent.
‘If you can’t take wickets, then forget about stopping the opposition,’ he added.