Rameez wants Misbah to be proactive

ISLAMABAD: Former cricketer Rameez Raja believes Sri Lanka would come out hard at Pakistan in the ODI series final at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium saying Misbah ul Haq needs to be proactive and must read the game better.

Rameez Raja said he feels Sri Lanka will have an edge over the green- shirts. "We have completely failed to restrict Jayawardene and Mathews in this series," he said while talking to a private news channel. Rameez advised Misbah to bowl pacers when Jayawardene and Mathews are batting.

"He has been trying his spinners against them (Jayawardene and Mathews) and it has not brought him any success," he said.

Rameez said he is surprised that Pakistan's bowling has been below par in the series against Sri Lanka. "We have struggled a lot during the batting power play. Sri Lanka has played with a great bowling combination in this series," he said.

Rameez said we should have played Zulfiqar Babar from the very first match. "I don't know why our bowlers don't bowl many Yorkers," he said.

Rameez said with Waqar Younis as coach he was expecting that our bowlers would stick to Yorkers during death overs. "I have not seen a better exponent of Yorkers than Waqar Younis," he said.

Rameez said another reason for our loss in Test series and second ODI is that we have never played consistent cricket for a longer period in our history.

"One day we are top class and the other day we just fade away," he said.

Rameez said we need an MCC like committee in Pakistan. "I have worked with Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Shahryar Khan and he is a great person. "We must make sure our cricketing affairs are transparent," he said.

Legendary batsman Javed Miandad said the players should stop thinking about being senior or junior and just think of making runs for the country. "All they (players) need to set goals for themselves," he said adding our batsmen should know how to react to different situations on the field which change in every game," he said.

Miandad said at his time he used to assess the situation he was batting in. "I used to make sure that the opponents did what I wanted them to do, rather than reacting to their tactics. I would play shots that would change the field or make the bowler change his line and length, this is what makes a batsman different," he said.