‘Zimbabwe whitewash can`t be benchmark for judging Pakistan’s performance’

Islamabad: As Pakistan celebrates its tour whitewash of Zimbabwe, former medium pacer Jalaluddin has said that it was a contest between two ‘mismatched teams’, and advised the team management to devise a long-term strategy ahead of the ‘tougher’ series against Sri Lanka in the UAE, starting next month. Pakistan clinched the one-off Test and the three-match One-Day International (ODI) series before winning the two Twenty20s against Zimbabwe, an achievement that drew widespread appreciation. “It’s a good achievement. However, it must be remembered that Zimbabwe cannot be the benchmark for judging Pakistan’s performance. We should appreciate the results and our target has been accomplished. But there is a tougher series coming up,” a leading daily quoted Jalal, as saying. The former Pakistan fast bowler said that while there were a few positives from the Zimbabwe tour, a long-term strategy needed to be worked out. He was also sceptical of the performance of all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez, who bagged four man-of-the-match awards in six matches on the tour, and said that a tour of Zimbabwe cannot assess the real quality of a player. “Hafeez did remarkably well on the tour, but Zimbabwe are easy opponents. He needs to do better against tougher teams to show his true qualities,” Jalal said. “Aizaz Cheema was definitely among the positives. He performed in the absence of the other fast-bowlers and that was good to see. But the team management needs to work out a long-term plan for Pakistan cricket,” he added. ANI