Young Pakistan batter, Saud Shakeel has recently revealed his plans after his side defeated the Netherlands yesterday.
Meanwhile, the Men in Green took on the Dutch in the second game of the ODI World Cup at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
However, Pakistan got a bad start in the first innings as the Netherlands dismissed 3 batters in quick succession.
The likes of Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, and Babar Azam couldn’t capitalize well on their starts.
But, it was the knocks from Mohammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel that put Pakistan in a commanding position in the game.
While Shakeel scored 68 from 52 balls, Rizwan scored 75 from 75 balls allowing their side to post a target of 286 runs.
Eventually, they also emerged as winners of the game, winning it by 81 runs.
Shakeel tells his strategy against the Netherlands after the game
Talking about his innings, Shakeel stated that he wanted to keep things simple and was very clear in his mind.
He also said that he wanted to play positive cricket throughout the game as well.
There were nerves. But I was lucky that I found a few odd boundaries. Sometimes it happens that you find such boundaries, it makes it easier for you. I was clear in my mind that I wanted to attack and play positive cricket. Rizwan bhai’s role was to go long but my plan was simple.
Adding further, he said,
I had focused on a few bowlers of the Netherlands. If I had to hit them from above, I would take a chance. I did that. I took a chance. I was trying to stay positive and kept attacking the bowlers I had targeted.
Pakistan failed to make quite the impression with the bat but compensated it with their bowling.
Their splendid bowling performance put the Dutch in a tight spot as they collapsed for 205.
Furthermore, this is also Pakistan’s first win in an ODI World Cup in India.
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