Hoping Pakistan Won’t Settle For a Draw in England, Says Shoaib Akhtar
Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar has urged the team to not settle for a draw but go for victory in their upcoming series against England.
Pakistan will take on England in a series involving three Tests and as many T20Is in August and September, after the completion of West Indies’ three-Test series against the ‘The Three Lions’ starting July 8.
Akhtar has advised the Pakistan team to go into the series with a positive frame of mind and belief that they can beat the mighty England team in their own backyard.
“I want to see players’ (COVID-19) test negative but want their mindset to be positive. Pakistan needs to play really good cricket,” Akhtar said in a video uploaded on his YouTube channel.
“There is no cricket going on across the world and Pakistan will get to play against England. Before that West Indies is playing against them.
“I hope the team is able to assess the situation better in England and come up with a solid team combination,” he added.
Akhtar also trained his guns towards former Pakistani batsmen and said they faltered many-a-times in England when they could have gone on to win matches. He also urged Azhar Ali’s troops to go for the win and not settle for a draw.
“I pray to god that Pakistan won’t try to just draw the series there. In the past, we could have won many games in England but I feel the mindset of the batsmen just wasn’t there,” Akhtar said.
“I just hope they come up with a good combination out of the squad that have traveled to England,” the former Pakistani speedster added.
(With agency inputs)