Thaindian News

London, July 21 (ANI): Newly-appointed Pakistan Test skipper Salman Butt is beaming with confidence ahead of the second Test against Australia starting Wednesday (today) at Headingly, and believes that the Kangaroos are beatable if his squad plays to its potential.

“Australia have a few flaws and it is up to the opponents to exploit these,” Butt told The News.

The left-handed opener pointed out that Pakistan failed to capitalise on the chances which were created during the first Test at Lord’s, which they ultimately lost by 150 runs.

“There were two things that went wrong at Lord’s. First we allowed their lower-order to score too many runs in the second innings and then our middle-order failed to click, their tail-enders managed over 150 runs and then our middle-order failed to cash in on good opening stands. We were 80 for 1 in the first innings and then 152 for 1 in the second,” Butt said.

Butt, who has captained Pakistan’s junior and A teams, underlined that his batsmen would need to put on runs on the board in the first innings of the Headingly Test in order to stand any chance of giving Ricky Ponting’s men a tough time.

“The Headingly wicket has never been easy for the batsmen. Though the wicket gives a dull look, it always help seam because of the conditions. If we could manage 350 in the first innings, we could make a match out of it. We have got enough ammunition in our bowling to give Australia a tough time,” he said.

When asked about any extra pressure on him because of captaincy and whether the new responsibility would affect his personal performance, Butt said it should not be a ‘hassle’.

“All my life, from teenage cricket up to this level I have been captain throughout. I think I should enjoy it. It’s a challenge…It’s a young unit, it shouldn’t be that much of a hassle,”

He also hinted that there was only a very faint possibility of former captains Mohammed Yousuf or Younis Khan coming back into the national squad, at least in the ongoing series.

“All I said was any player who comes into the Pakistan team will not get experience unless they get a good run. I think those two guys (Azhar Ali and Umar Amin) will carry on and Pakistan will get two very good players in future out of them.” Butt said. (ANI)