When you average 40 you are expected to handle pressure and contribute - Nawaz

Sri Lanka’s assistant coach Naveed Nawaz said that the two Pakistan fast bowlers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah put tremendous pressure on the batsmen with their accuracy and field settings.                                                                                                                                            “In these two Tests the two fast bowlers kept constantly asking questions from our batsmen. If you see the fields Pakistan set, it was according to the accuracy of their bowlers,” said Nawaz at the end of the day.

“They challenged our batsmen to hit the gaps and they dictated terms to our batsmen with their field setting and their accuracy.”

“When you go to a Test with the batters averaging 40 or thereabouts we expect them to contribute. A batsman who can maintain an average around 40 is good enough to handle pressure situations. We have made a lot of mistakes in our batting especially against the Pakistani bowlers. We back our players to come out of this rut and score runs.” Pakistan fast bowler Naseem Shah who took the crucial wickets of Sri Lanka’s two most experienced batsmen Angelo Mathews and Dimuth Karunaratne on his way to figures of 3/41 said that as a fast bowler every wicket was important to him. “When the team needed wickets and I delivered, I felt really well. Personally all three wickets I took were good for me as well as for the team,” said Naseem.  On the prospects of the match, Naseem said, “The pitch is good for batting and the credit goes to our bowlers all of whom bowled very well. We are looking for a big lead and we want to win this game.” – (ST)