Afridi’s tactics: Attack all the way

HAMBANTOTA, Sri Lanka: Ricky Ponting says his Australian batsmen will take their time before accelerating during their innings at this World Cup but Pakistan counterpart Shahid Afridi on Tuesday indicated that it would be foot on the gas all the way for his team.
“We have planned well,” Afridi assured reporters in a news conference here ahead of their first Group A match against Kenya.
The captain said he had more than enough talent to make an impact here. That meant a constant emphasis on attack through the order.
“Ahmed Shehzad and Mohammad Hafeez will open the innings and if we lose the first wicket early, then we have Kamran Akmal, who has been an attacking batsman and has opened, so we will have the advantage with him in the circle,” he said.
“It will depend on how many overs we have so Umar Akmal can come after Younis (Khan).”
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Afridi was also questioned about his use of the all-important voluntarily powerplays when all but three of the fielders must be within an inner ring.
His answer was simple: wait and see. “It depends on the situation. You can use it after the ball change after 34 overs, we normally lose wickets in powerplay, but if we don’t we will take it after 45 overs,” said Afridi.
“We will play our normal game. We have got aggressive players like Shehzad, Hafeez and Kamran Akmal and they know how to use the circle. We will make it just simple,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kenya, beaten by New Zealand by 10 wickets in Sunday’s opening World Cup game after being shot out for 69, are confident of bouncing back in workmanlike fashion from that debacle.
“A top professional for me is if you are down it’s the way you pick yourself up,” said Kenya’s most experienced player Steve Tikolo who will be making his fifth appearance at a World Cup tournament.
“We lost the game against New Zealand and it wasn’t a good day for us. But the good thing that came out was that the boys were very disappointed.
“That shows the mark of good professionals. We can always pick ourselves up for tomorrow’s game,” he said.
Tikolo was pleased that the Pakistan captain had shown some respect for his team despite that defeat by New Zealand.
“We are here to play good cricket and be competitive. It’s good to hear that the opposing captain has respect for the Kenyan team,” said Tikolo.