Hope springs eternal for Pybus

Hope springs eternal for Pybus

By Richard Pybus Pakistan coach

Will Afridi open the batting?

It's quite a long scratch now for us to qualify - the mathematical equations show that the chances of us making the Super Sixes are very, very slim.

But at least we will know exactly what we have to do once the first innings is over in our match against Zimbabwe.

If we batted first, we would have to score 350 and bowl them out for about 160, which is clearly a tough ask.

I don't want to pre-empt our selection meeting, but we will obviously be looking at the nature of the cricketers we play because we are going to have to be very positive.

That does not mean that Shahid Afridi will definitely open. Saeed Anwar and Taufeeq Umar have done done quite well together.

Pakistan's big area to work on is consistency in the overall team performance.

We may consider playing Azhar Mahmood and Mohammed Sami, neither of whom have played in the tournament so far.

Zimbabwe will also have a lot to play for and it could be a great match in Bulawayo.

It is generally a very good batting track there so runs could come easily but wickets may not do.

That's one of the reasons why it will be so tough but hope springs eternal.

Ironically, there's been less security in Zimbabwe than there was in South Africa. It's all very relaxed.

We were here two months ago so it's not as though we have a lot of concerns.

Sachin Tendulkar's knock at the beginning of their innings was absolutely fantastic

I must also reflect on the match at Centurion Park on Saturday and it was a great disappointment, obviously, to lose to India.

It's probably the best batting track in the whole of South Africa and there was virtually no lateral movement whatsoever and nothing to assist the bowlers in the air.

It was never the sort of wicket where people were going to be bowled out. It was totally a case of the batsman having to get himself out.

You have to look to score around 300 batting first on the Centurion track and we did not manage that.

First thing in the morning, perhaps we did not get full value for our shots but full credit to India.

They chased very well and coped brilliantly will the pressure. Sachin Tendulkar's knock at the beginning of their innings was absolutely fantastic.

He imposed himself immediately on the bowlers and although we have a pretty reasonable bowling attack he took the game away from us in the first few overs.

They finished it off with a partnership between Yuvraj Singh and Rahul Dravid that showed a lot of maturity.

Pakistan's big area to work on is consistency in the overall team performance. We discussed the areas we should bowl and failed to execute our plan.

It's all very well doing the planning, but if you can't put those plans into action then you're going to struggle at this level.