Thaindian News

Karachi, Mar 2(ANI): Pakistan may have won their first two matches of the 2011 World Cup, but “could feel the pinch against stronger opposition” unless one more bowler is included in the squad, former skipper Imran Khan has said.

“I strongly believe that although we won against Sri Lanka, Pakistan is playing one specialist bowler short and needs to include a bowler in place of a batsman or all-rounder,” The Nation quoted Imran, as saying.

He pointed out that Pakistan’s bowling could struggle against strong opponents and on a good batting pitch.

“So far our bowlers have done well in the World Cup but the team could feel the pinch against stronger opposition. I think they must play either Saeed Ajmal or an extra pace bowler,” he said.

Imran, under whom Pakistan won their first and only World Cup title in 1992, said he would try to speak to captain Shahid Afridi and coach Waqar Younis on the matter.

He also said it was no use playing all-rounder Abdul Razzaq at the number eight position.

“Frankly speaking, he is being wasted there and he is not the one to take the new ball in the sub-continental conditions. I think Pakistan need to be looking at taking wickets with the new ball instead of giving Razzaq a containing role,” Imran said.

The cricketer-turned-politician was optimistic that bagging World Cup glory would help Pakistan clean its image post spot-fixing scandal and also restart playing international cricket at home.

“It is very important for Pakistan to win this Cricket World Cup as such a victory would go a long way in clearing the image of Pakistan cricket after the recent controversies and also maybe convince teams to start touring Pakistan again,” Imran maintained. (ANI)