"Pace and bounce won't make any difference (at Perth)" : Mohammad Hafeez

[jeetu]

http://wwos.nine.com.au/2017/01/18/18/16/pakistan-laugh-off-fast-waca-fears

Stand-in Pakistan skipper Mohammad Hafeez has laughed off talk his team might struggle to cope with the the WACA's pace and bounce in Thursday's ODI clash with Australia.

Australian paceman Josh Hazlewood is hoping for a traditionally quick Perth wicket, saying: "We know their batters don't like that extra bounce and pace".

Pakistan are renowned for their ability to play spin - but facing quicks on lively decks is a different story.

With the five-match ODI series locked at 1-1, Hafeez couldn't help but chuckle when told about Hazlewood's comments.

"I can only laugh on it," Hafeez said.

"We are very much ready for that. That pace and bounce won't make any difference."

Pakistan were expected to field the same side who beat Australia by six wickets on Sunday at the MCG.

Skipper Azhar Ali will miss his second straight match with a hamstring injury, leaving Hafeez to again fill in as captain.

Pakistan's hopes of victory were given a boost when Australia confirmed pace ace Mitchell Starc (rested) wouldn't play in Perth along with injured allrounder Mitch Marsh (shoulder).

Billy Stanlake replaces Starc, while debutant Peter Handscomb will fill the void left by Marsh.

Australia's top order is under pressure to perform after crashing to 5-78 and 4-86 in the opening two games of the series.

Hafeez said his team's bowling unit were determined to maintain their same aggressive approach to try to put Australia under more pressure.

"In the last two games, our bowlers did a great job for us," Hafeez said.

"They took wickets at the right time. They put the opposition under tremendous pressure.

"We believe if we can take three or four wickets early on, that gives you more of a chance to attack on the opposition, and that's what our bowlers have done."

 

[Mir jibran]

hafeez oozing with confidence

 

[ExpressPacer]

Overconfidence, I would say. What Hazlewood said is absolutely true. I was all for the aggressive remarks and captaincy until we celebrated a lost 1st test to Aus by cutting a cake. This is a team of nobodies and they just got lucky last match. Can't wait to see how Australia demolishes and exposes this deserving no.10 team again.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Good comments from Hafeez and Imad. It all starts in the mind. Enough of Misbah and Azhar's nice "gentleman" approach.

 

[marlonbrowndo]

With hafeez captaining you know that the person leading the side actually knows what he is doing on the field. There is a sense of calmness.

 

[ExplicitAI]

I love this. Pakistan was always a team that plays by attacking for wickets rather than parking the bus and waiting for mistakes. An aggressive approach was what we were missing and Hafeez can provide us for that.

 

[Flat_Track_Bully]

Gentleman Azhar would be talking about how to lose the match gracefully in a monotone voice

 

[Hawkeye]

Good comments.

Only if Hafeez can back it up with a good show. Pace/bounce shouldn't be a problem, the way we have smashed Starc all around the park shows that.

He's our batsmen's favorite bowler to cart around now.

 

[Pete Rose]

I am happy that he said it.
But regardless of all the pace and bounce talk, the wickets will come by pitching it even further than mcg

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Azhar in this case would have said,,

Yes we know that perth is one of the bounciest pitches in Australia.

Australia will come hard on us and we are prepared for that.

We should improve our death bowling and not give away too many runs

We should improve our S/R and cut down the dot ball percentage

Our pacers did a very good job especially AMIR early into the inns but later on We give away too many runs. Credit to Australia the way they fought hard to get to a good score from being 5 down for less than 100...

The pure gentleman talk and I'm sick of hearing this since MISBAH as the captain..

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Overconfidence, I would say. What Hazlewood said is absolutely true. I was all for the aggressive remarks and captaincy until we celebrated a lost 1st test to Aus by cutting a cake. This is a team of nobodies and they just got lucky last match. Can't wait to see how Australia demolishes and exposes this deserving no.10 team again.

could be but what he said is right. dont go into the match with fear of losing and no fire in the belly...

show them u r up for the challenge first and follow up with actions.....

 

[Arham_PakFan]

Brave comments.Now let's see if they can back it up with performance.

 

[Markhor]

This isn't the 1970s, Perth wicket is pretty flat nowadays. Its lost some pace and bounce over the years.

 

[Flat_Track_Bully]

Azhar in this case would have said,,


The pure gentleman talk and I'm sick of hearing this since MISBAH as the captain..

School of Misbah. Loser attitude. Reserved and softly spoken.

We need swagger, confidence, arrogance.

 

[street cricketer]

Liking this aggressive approach against the Aussies. Pakistan have been timid for far too long now. Like I said, the only way to beat Australia is to beat them in their own game. Because they are such mentally strong opponents, you can't succeed against them with a timid approach.

 

[MRSN]

Azhar in this case would have said,,


The pure gentleman talk and I'm sick of hearing this since MISBAH as the captain..

in other words. we are scared and ready to be defeated.

 

[ego-gambit]

Pak will only win this series with good batting atleast consistently chase 270 Captaincy is one aspect but how much Hafeez contribute with bat matters most Steve Smith will not drop him again

 

[JibranAnsari]

Its about time batting fires as well , bowlers have done well in both the matches but batting has been rathar scratchy. We should be mentally ready to chase 300 plus and innings played at 70 SR wont help much. Best of luck.

 

[Madplayer]

Never accept your actual weakness prior to the game. Lie about having other weaknesses.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

hafeez oozing with confidence

Hopefully that confidence will be translated into runs otherwise it will look pretty silly.

 

[Madplayer]

Hopefully that confidence will be translated into runs otherwise it will look pretty silly.

Sharjeel thrives on short pitched deliveries. I hope he can do something special tomorrow.

 

[street cricketer]

Sharjeel thrives on short pitched deliveries. I hope he can do something special tomorrow.

I actually don't expect the Aussie bowlers to bowl too many short pitched deliveries.

The most difficult thing at the WACA is not facing the bouncers. You get much more lift from a good length delivery at good pace which makes the delivery far more lethal than a short pitched delivery (atleast those in the past, the present ones have been very flat). Which is why most Australian ex players often say that the key at the WACA is pitching it up and not going short getting sucked into the fastest pitch in the world hype.

Wouldn't be surprised if Hazlewood is successful tomorrow.

 

[MRSN]

Pak will only win this series with good batting atleast consistently chase 270 Captaincy is one aspect but how much Hafeez contribute with bat matters most Steve Smith will not drop him again��

Australian batting is not going to fail every match especially at home. Warner is due a big innings.

 

[proud_pakistani]

As much as I don't rate Hafeez as a cricketer, he atleast has positivity and that can sometimes help bring the best out of others around you.

If you look at players like Misbah and Asad Shafiq who are always on the defensive. They can be good players but they won't win you many games. We need players who are willing to take a bit of a gamble and back themselves to do well and for that Hafeez is doing the right thing. Hopefully this positivity can help his batting as well.

 

[Mir jibran]

Hopefully that confidence will be translated into runs otherwise it will look pretty silly.

yes even i am thinking about that
hafeez needs to score at a good sr

 

[MightyObnoxious]

Really like Hafeez' comments. I love Azhar and Misbah but you don't have to be timid and nice. You need to be aggressive and put others on the defensive. The way he laughed at the question might have motivated Pakistani players a bit more. That there captain think that we have no probelm playing pace and bounce.

 

[Syed1]

I can see the flair of Pakistani cricket returning with Hafeez as skipper. This is what we were missing for the last 7-8 years.

 

[shaz619]

Really like Hafeez' comments. I love Azhar and Misbah but you don't have to be timid and nice. You need to be aggressive and put others on the defensive. The way he laughed at the question might have motivated Pakistani players a bit more. That there captain think that we have no probelm playing pace and bounce.

The attendance has been shockingly poor at these games [MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] ! We always sell out here in England, so much for cricket being one of the main sports in AUS, sure they like their test cricket and there are other platforms to enjoy the product but still for a country where cricket is arguably their no.1 sport I'd expect better attendance

 

[Syed1]

The attendance has been shockingly poor at these games [MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] ! watching that video. We always sell out here in England, so much for cricket being one of the main sports in AUS, sure they like their test cricket and there are other platforms to enjoy the product but still for a country where cricket is arguably their no.1 sport I'd expect better attendance

Bhai jaan, in the last ODI the attendance was around 30k, I think the commentators announced it. The thing is these Aussie stadiums are massive and even with 30k attendance it seems that the stands are only sparsely filled.

 

[shaz619]

Bhai jaan, in the last ODI the attendance was around 30k, I think the commentators announced it. The thing is these Aussie stadiums are massive and even with 30k attendance it seems that the stands are only sparsely filled.

I know, that's a fair amount but for their domestic T20 games they sell those stadiums out like it's nothing and with cricket being so huge in AUS you'd expect a lot more people coming in

 

[Syed1]

I know, that's a fair amount but for their domestic T20 games they sell those stadiums out like it's nothing and with cricket being so huge in AUS you'd expect a lot more people coming in

Pakistan won for the first time in Australia after 16 tries. I wouldn't be spending money on the game if I already knew the result of it. Hopefully the attendance is higher in the next match, considering that Pakistan also managed to notch up a win.

Also, their domestic T20s are mostly scheduled in the evening or on weekends allowing more people the opportunity to visit the games.

 

[coy0607]

I love this. Pakistan was always a team that plays by attacking for wickets rather than parking the bus and waiting for mistakes. An aggressive approach was what we were missing and Hafeez can provide us for that.

this is why I'd like to see Pakistan bat first

if the come out aggressive and attaching, the difference in the ODI team we've had in the past year and now could be very evident

lets see if Hafeez can actually back his words, cause Azhar has come out talking about attacking cricket often too

 

[angrypathan]

Hafeez on fire Hopefully we can walk the talk now

 

[Chief Destroyer]

I know, that's a fair amount but for their domestic T20 games they sell those stadiums out like it's nothing and with cricket being so huge in AUS you'd expect a lot more people coming in

T20 tickets are cheaper.

 

[Cricket World]

Let's hope we walk the talk and win this one

 

[Major]

the difference between misbah and hafeez.
Misbah admits the shortcomings and dificulties, hafeez doesnt.

 

[Hasan123]

Good comments from Hafeez. Removing Azhar as captain and as a batsmen will help change our fortunes massively in LO.

 

[Hawkeye]

the difference between misbah and hafeez.
Misbah admits the shortcomings and dificulties, hafeez doesnt.

Calm down here.

Hafeez is a good change here and I'm tired of Misbah or Azhar s monotonous timid speeches.

But yeah, you have to be actually good too.

 

[Mamoon]

the difference between misbah and hafeez.
Misbah admits the shortcomings and dificulties, hafeez doesnt.

There is no need of admitting shortcomings and difficulties publicly. Misbah is no doubt a gentleman, but he was never good with words and never managed to get under the skin of the opposition before taking the field.

 

[saeedhk]

Misbah was to soft on the cricket field which can be harmful for the team. At times, you need to ruffle the opposition's feathers. Remember how he would tell players not to respond to sledging.

 

[Speedster777]

hafeez fails again. business as usual.

 

[Thivagar]

LOL gone for 4 of 13 balls.

 

[angrypathan]

LOL gone for 4 of 13 balls.

To be fair, he wasn't beaten by the pace or bounce

 

[speedking]

pace duo of haz and Cummins bowled beautifully today clearly owned pak batsman with pace now say..

 

[itsme]

LOL gone for 4 of 13 balls.

It's four more than what he should have scored in the previous match