LAHORE, May 3: Pakistan Juniors gave the formidable Aussie Under-19 team a run for their money on their recent tour Down Under, said coach Mohsin Sheikh who submitted his tour report to Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday.
Terming last month’s tour as highly successful and satisfactory, Mohsin recommended at least six players as big future hopes for Pakistan cricket following their impressive performances against the Australians.
The national under-19 side played five one-day matches against Australian juniors during April 2007 in a well-contested series that ended at 3-2 in favour of hosts.
"We bounced back from 2-0 down to level the series 2-2 before losing the final by 19 runs which is definitely a commendable show from our boys,” Mohsin told Dawn on Thursday.
An Australia-based Pakistani who is currently employed with the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Lahore, Mohsin passed both level-I and II coaching courses from Australia with flying colours a year ago.
"It was a series which fully tested the mental and playing strengths of both the sides,” disclosed Mohsin. “When Pakistan went into the fourth ODI 2-1 down and were set a target of 310 for victory, our boys were under tremendous pressure. But fine knocks from opener Shan Masood (90) and middle-order batsman Umar Amin (98) enabled us to pull off an improbable win at 311 for six in 46.3 overs."
Mohsin, who is eyeing a Masters degree from an Australia University in sports coaching that also encompasses specialist human movement and bio-mechanics, said besides Shan Masood (Karachi) and Umar Amin (Rawalpindi), the other outstanding batsmen on the tour were Taimur Ali (Quetta) and Imad Wasim (Islamabad).
Mohsin was all praise for left-arm fast bowler Mohammad Amir from Rawalpindi, Junaid Khan (Abbotabad) and Shahzeb Khan of Karachi who impressed the coach with their speed and seam movement.
The coach claimed that the playing conditions in Australia at this time of the year were not totally conducive to the Pakistan team but his players played superb cricket to go down fighting in the series.
"The pitches were hard and bouncy Down Under and since the floodlights at the grounds were installed at a much lower level than usual, the light would often bounce off the sight screen to cause problems for our players," he added. “But they still stuck to their task and almost won the series.”
Mohsin disclosed that Cricket Australia had fielded three overaged players in the five-match series but had informed the Pakistan team management of the move prior to the start of the series. “All-rounder Simon Keen, pacer Coulita Nile and batsman Phil Hughes were all over 19 years of age,” said Mohsin. “Their presence did make a difference in the final ODI when Keen took 5-44 and Hughes scored 74 to win the match for the hosts.”
To a question, he said Pakistan was aiming for the next Junior World Cup in Malaysia, scheduled for in March 2008. “But before that, we have a tough tour of England coming up in July.”
Of his own decision to join the NCA, Mohsin said: “I am really keen to assist in any way towards improvement of junior cricket structure. It is ironic that while the senior players in Pakistan enjoy all the support and financial benefits, there’s hardly any focus on junior cricket that needs to made effective in order to groom the replacements for our senior players," he concluded.
