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Asia Cup 2018: Sarfraz Ahmed concedes India’s skill level higher than that of Pakistan
Two consecutive defeats to the arch-rivals in the Asia Cup has left coach Mickey Arthur and captain Sarfraz Ahmed with difficult questions to answer less than a year ahead of the ICC World Cup.
Pakistan’s crushing defeat at the hands of India on Sunday has left the team management facing several worrying questions about the team’s ability as a unit in the 50-over format.
Victory over India in the Champions Trophy final a year ago had raised hopes of a renaissance in Pakistan cricket but the two consecutive defeats to the arch-rivals in the Asia Cup has left coach Mickey Arthur and captain Sarfraz Ahmed with difficult questions to answer less than a year ahead of the ICC World Cup.
“Their skill-level is high, ours is not quite there, but by the final, we will get better. It’s a do-or-die match for us in the next game, we will do well,” Sarfraz said in the post match ceremony at the Dubai International Cricket stadium.
The Pakistan captain rued the couple of dropped catches of Rohit, which cost his team dearly in the end.
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“We made it tough for ourselves by dropping those catches. We were 20-25 runs short and if we would have held on to our catches we could have possibly made things interesting.
“The wicket was a bit difficult to play on in the afternoon as the cracks had widened up. It wasn’t easy for a new batsman walking in. Had we got early wickets, this chase would have been certainly difficult. We have been losing a lot of wickets in the early overs and hence it becomes difficult to recover from such situations.”
The Pakistan captain was all praise for the Indian centurions.
“The way they batted, all credit to them. Rohit and Dhawan were exceptional. They have shown better skills as compared to us. We need to work a lot on our skill level if at all we want to get into the final.
Pakistan take on Bangladesh on Wednesday for a place in the summit clash.
(With agency inputs)
