After Pakistan’s win against South Africa, spinner Saeed Ajmal said on Sunday that the World Cup teams should not take Team Green lightly, NDTV reported.
Ajmal, who didn’t play in the tournament as he was undergoing remedial measures for an illegal bowling action, said Pakistan would be a far more dangerous and positive side.
“It is a victory that was much needed, ” he added.
“Misbah will retire from ODIs after the World Cup and he will leave a big void in the batting and as captain. I think the PCB needs to start planning on who will replace him and who should be groomed,” he said.
Misbah, 40, has announced that while he will continue to play Test cricket after the World Cup he will retire from one-day matches.
Ajmal felt batsman Azhar Ali has the potential to not only perform with the bat like Misbah in recent years but could also be groomed as a captain.
Chasing 232 runs to win under the Duckworth-Lewis method at Eden Park, Pakistan had claimed a third successive victory on March 7 by bowling out the highly-rated Proteas for 202 despite captain AB de Villiers’ valiant 77.
Rahat Ali grabbed a career-best 3-40, Mohammad Irfan (3-52) and Wahab Riaz (3-45) as South Africa, chasing a revised target in 47 overs, were bowled out 33.3 overs.
Pakistan’s innings, twice interrupted by rain before it was reduced to 47 overs, folded in 46.4 overs for 222 with skipper Misbahul Haq scoring 56 and Sarfraz Ahmed making 4
