Salman Ali Agha: Dropping players during a series is not a good thing

LAHORE: Pakistan batter Salman Ali Agha has said that dropping players during a series is not a good thing. “I do not think it has happened before, and I hope it will happen in future,” he said.

Speaking at a press conference, he said the pitches in the series had been different. “We should have won the match against England easily,” he said. He said some batters had been unable to score, and he hoped they would score in the final. “My shot selection was like that. It should not have been so,” he said.

The Pakistan batter said he would not agree with the claim that he does not take things seriously. “If you get the chance out of 250 million people, why would you not be serious? When I play for Pakistan, why would I not take it seriously?” he said.

He said the pressure of captaincy is certainly there, but he now feels less of it. “Tomorrow too the stadium will be full. I will only say: support us,” he said.

Salman Ali Agha said Fakhar and Babar have been the best ODI players for 10 years and have won big series. He said Fakhar scores well in finals, and Fakhar and Babar Azam will score tomorrow.

He said that only that many runs could have been scored where they played, and the team also defended that total. He said batters will have to convert their fifties into big scores. “If that happens, we can also score 350 plus,” he said.

He said the young players are very talented and will play for Pakistan for a long time. He said players who flop should get proper opportunities so that they can pull themselves out of a difficult time. “In Shadab, we get a player at number eight who can score runs,” he said.

Salman Ali Agha said Shadab and Haris Rauf batted superbly and kept their nerves. “Such matches do not happen every day. Dropping players during a series is not a good thing,” he said.