Skipper Sarfraz wants his side to strike early on in the World Cup

Pakistan cricket captain Sarfraz Ahmed says that he would bat further at the batting order in the upcoming ICC World Cup 2019.

“You will see me batting at the top order in this World Cup, I would try to set a batting position for me and bat on the same position throughout the tournament,” said Sarfraz, while talking to local media.

The skipper said that his batsmen would need to strike the ball early in order to dominate at the tournament. “We need to strike at the new ball early on, as it is one of the demands of modern cricket especially in England conditions, where scores of 300 will not be safe if we didn’t strike early on,” he said.

Talking about the ODI series against England, which would begin just prior the World Cup the skipper said that the series would allow them to ‘adjust’ to the English conditions.

“We have got ample time to practice before World Cup, as we would face England in five ODIs, se we would try to develop a good combination in the ODI series before entering the World Cup,” said Sarfraz.

“The conditions in England will prove favorable to us as we are going a month before the World Cup, Pakistan has played in England consecutively for the past three years, and this time around too we are going early, so it will help us to adjust to the conditions,” he said.

Sarfraz side has got the ‘backup’ of spinners available in likes of leg spinner Shadab Khan and off spinner Imad Wasim, and part time spinners as well including Shoiab Malik and Mohammad Hafeez.

“You must have a third opener in your squad, or someone in the middle order that can open as well, but obviously we would need a third opener as a backup for any situation,” he said.