Birmingham: Azhar Ali, who ensured there were no hiccups in Pakistan’s chase in the ICC Champions Trophy semi-final through a polished knock of 76 runs and being involved in a 118-run opening partnership with Fakhar Zaman, wants to believe that reaching the final is just the start of many more glorious moments in Pakistan cricket.
Answering to a query from Gulf News, Ali said: “Remember that Pakistan can always bounce back from any performance or else, we would not have reached the final. Losing to India badly wasn’t a good start for us in this tournament. We were under pressure right away. All credit to my captain and the support staff that we coped with the pressure and we showed that if we play to our potential, we can beat anybody. Beating South Africa gave us the confidence and we took it from there.”
Ali said he enjoyed opening with newcomer Zaman. “I enjoy batting with him. It is nice to see him go for the runs and enjoying his batting. He is making most of his good form by taking on the bowers. All bowlers want to stop him and in the process I get my runs.”
Ali also revealed that the Cardiff wicket wasn’t an easy one to bat on. “The ball did reverse a bit and also the spinners also got little bit of help. It was a good one-day pitch. England wanted to set a big target buy they couldn’t do it, full credit to our bowlers.”
Ali said that there is no shortcut to success. “We need to produce good performance in all departments of the game and keep improving with every match. After the match against Sri Lanka, we decided that we should chase. Sarfraz (Ahmad) played a great knock that put us in the semi-final. Today the bowlers bowled so well. Getting out England for 211 was never easy because they have a wonderful balance to their side and we knew that we have to pick wickets, otherwise they will score heavily.
“Credit goes to the bowlers and the way Sarfraz led the team through bowling changes that got us the wickets and kept run-rate under check. We also needed a partnership in this sort of target and we did that and it was an easy victory in the end.”
Ali then went on to thank the Pakistan fans, who turned up at Cardiff outnumbering England fans. “Last time when we played here, we came after losing four matches. Whenever Pakistan fans turn up in large numbers, we feel at home. We love the crowd support and I thank everyone that cheered for us and that too helped us win over a tough opponent.”
