Australian batsman Michael Hussey has termed the absence of Younus Khan and Mohammad Yousuf a blessing for Australia and predicted it will be difficult for Pakistan to post big scores as a result.
Hussey, Pakistan’s destroyer-in-chief in their World Twenty20 title-defence, praised Pakistan’s bowling attack but said the opposition will be heavily tested in the first Test at Lord’s that starts tomorrow.
“I think whatever happened in Australia at the start of the year is history as both teams will start afresh come the first Test,” said Hussey following Australia’s training session at Lord’s yesterday. “They’re playing with confidence now but will be heavily tested especially given they’re without Younus and Yousuf, two outstanding and classy players.
“It’s a big loss and it’ll be very, very hard for Pakistan to find those runs that they scored, especially in Test cricket.”
Australia, following their loss in the final of the 2010 World Twenty20 to England, have not had the best of times since arriving in England. The World Champions lost the One-Day International series against the hosts 3-2 before being whitewashed in the two-match Twenty20 series against Pakistan. Hussey, however, remained confident of an improved performance in the longer format of the game.
“Traditionally, we’re slow starters in England. We’ve been a bit scratchy but now we’ve been here for a month and should be accustomed to the conditions.”
Wary of a transformed Pakistan side, Hussey labelled their bowling attack as the key to success in the series together with the confidence attained from winning the Twenty20s.
“They have the confidence and really outplayed us and seem to have that winning belief.”
© Faras Ghani 2010
Published in The Express Tribune July 12, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment