KARACHI – Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmed on Thursday urged his fellowteammates to play “without fear” during their tour of South Africa — acountry where they have won only two Tests during their past five tours.
The Pakistani side is en route to South Africa to play three Tests, fiveone-day internationals and three Twenty20 internationals, with the firstTest starting in Centurion on December 26.
Pakistan head into the series after losing 2-1 to New Zealand in the UnitedArab Emirates last week. In the wake of the tough loss, Sarfraz said hestill had high hopes of earning a good result against the Proteas.
“Conditions in South Africa are tough with bouncy and seaming pitches soanyone who plays without fear and with a big heart will succeed,” Sarfraztold AFP.
Pakistan s two wins out of 12 Tests in South Africa came in 1998 and 2007,having lost nine with just one draw.
On their last tour in 2013, Pakistan were routed 3-0 and bowled out fortheir lowest Test score of 49 in the first Test in Johannesburg, with bothsenior batsmen Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq in the line-up.
Now without the two stalwarts, Pakistan will look to Azhar Ali and AsadShafiq to help guide the squad.
“We need big innings from both Azhar and Shafiq and they are capable ofdoing that, so if we put good totals on board we have a good bowling attackto win the match,” said Sarfraz, who also singled out recalled pacemanMohammad Amir as key to any success.
“Amir is back after a good performance at the domestic level so we hope hegets us key wickets in Tests,” said Sarfraz of Amir, who was dropped fromthe series against Australia and New Zealand due to poor form.
Pakistan open the tour with a three-day game against Cricket South AfricaInvitation XI at Benoni from December 19.
The second Test is in Cape Town from January 3-7 and the third inJohannesburg from January 11-15. – APP/AFP