Asia Cup: Pakistan captain urges team to focus on middle overs ahead of India clash

Dubai (The Uttam Hindu): Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha has urged his team to strengthen their middle-over batting ahead of the Asia Cup Super Four match against India on September 21. His statement comes after the 41-run win over the UAE.

With this win, Pakistan advanced to the next round of the tournament, but their batting weaknesses remained undisguised. After the match, Agha said, "We did the job, but we needed to bat better in the middle overs. The bowlers performed well. We haven't yet batted at our best. If we had played well, we could have scored 170-180 runs. Shaheen is a match-winner; his batting has improved. Abrar has been excellent, bringing us back into the game. We are ready for any challenge. If we play good cricket, we can be formidable against any team."

Pakistan scored 146/9 against the UAE, with Shaheen Shah Afridi scoring an unbeaten 29 off 14 balls to keep the score respectable. However, the top and middle order failed once again. Saim Ayub failed to score in three matches, while Agha also failed to perform well in the middle overs.

The captain stressed that it is important to strengthen the batting between overs 7 and 15, which has repeatedly restricted his team to low scores. "Yes, we are ready for any challenge. We just want to play good cricket like we have been playing for the last few months," he said.

The next match against India is set to be a highly-anticipated one. India won the previous group stage encounter by seven wickets, but the Indian team's refusal to shake hands after the match made headlines. This controversy was linked to the political tensions surrounding the Pahalgam terrorist attack this year. The "no-handshake controversy" has further fueled an already intense contest. Now that both teams are in the Super Four, the contest has become even more exciting.