Confident Sarfraz reveals team’s strategies against Ireland

Pakistan cricket captain Sarfraz Ahmed has expressed confidence on the abilities of senior batsman Azhar Ali and fast bowler Mohammad Amir, as his side prepares to take on Ireland in a historic Test match.

With figures of 9, 10 and 15 in the two encounters at the tour games, Azhar’s form has been a concern for Pakistan. However, the skipper was of the view that Azhar Ali has been a performer for Pakistan on a number of occasions and will prove himself again.

"Nothing to worry about. Azhar has put up brilliant performances for Pakistan in tough times and I am confident that he'll continue to do that in the near future," Sarfraz said while talking to the media.

Meanwhile, talking about speedster Mohammad Amir, Sarfraz said that the fast bowler is getting back to his rhythm and would bowl well for his side.

"If we talk about practice matches, Amir hasn't taken any wickets at all but his rhythm is coming back and he's bowling well. I am hopeful that he tries to perform well and bowls well if he gets a chance," said Sarfraz.

Speaking about the strategies, Pakistan is likely to go with against the debutant Ireland; Sarfraz said that they would try to go on with five bowlers at Dublin clash.

"We tried to play our best combination in the last warm-up match. We will try to play five bowlers because we need to take 20 wickets to win but we'll first assess the conditions in Ireland then decide on the combination," he said.

Ireland, which will be making its Test debut, may look like minnows against the veteran Pakistan side but few could forget the horrific loss Pakistan endured at the hands of Ireland at the 2007 Cricket World Cup. Sarfraz, therefore, admitted Ireland as a strong side ‘in their conditions’.

"Ireland is a strong team in their conditions, they have a lot of experience in these conditions and most of their players regularly play county cricket. We'll try to give them a good fight and try to win this match," added Sarfraz.

Pakistan will play against Ireland, which will be their first-ever Test against Pakistan, from May 11 to May 15 in Dublin. Pakistan will then play two Tests against England at Lord’s from May 24 to May 28 and Headingley from June 1 to June 5.