Afridi hopes ICC and PCB resolve crisis soon

Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi expressed the hope that the controversies afflicting the team would be resolved by the authorities before next year’s World Cup after they fell short in the ond-day series against South Africa.

“We are trying from the start to get the team back to shape before the World Cup but something or other is coming up,” said an exasperated Afridi at the post-match conference after South Africa clinched the series with a 57-run win on Monday in Dubai.

He refused to talk about the sudden departure of wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider just hours before the decider but said they were “not really” affected by his absence.

Pakistan are also missing three key players Salman Butt, Mohammad Amer and Mohammad Asif who have been suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) over spot-fixing allegations.

“I hope that ICC and PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) solves the problem and sort these things so we can work towards building a good team and ensure that there are no such problems in every match,” he said.

He was humble enough to acknowledge that his own contribution with both bat and ball had been “very average” but identified the need for an overall improvement in key areas such as fielding and fitness.

“There are lot of things we should improve before the World Cup, especially in the fielding area. We have to improve a lot on fitness and strengthen the middle order when it comes to batting,” he said.

Openers Shahzaib Hassan and Mohammed Hafeez posted 82 runs in even time to give the Pakistan the best start in the series but South Africa’s imposing total of 317 for five was always going to be a difficult task.

“It’s not easy chasing huge totals every time especially when we lose wickets quickly,” said Afridi who agreed the turning point of the match was when Jacques Kallis grabbed three wickets including Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf.

“We have one more series against New Zealand before the World Cup, so we must step up in some areas before the big event and that is very important for us.”

However, he was pleased with the mental toughness they showed to come back in the series and chase huge totals. “We played fairly well. We did not take pressure on ourselves and every game we tried to motivate ourselves which is a positive thing,” he said as they clawed back from difficult situations in the series.

South Africa's captain Graeme Smith said he was pleased with his side’s progress but stopped short of making any predictions for the World Cup.

“For me, the steps from where we were in the winter to where we are now, I think we have taken some big steps forward, which is good,” Smith said.

“We are not predicting anything on the World Cup, there is a lot of cricket still to be played,” said Smith, 29, whose country has never won the tournament.

“Several guys made their debut against Pakistan in the one-day series, a lot of them have travelled to this part of the world for the first time and I think there has been lots of positives in the series.”

Pakistan’s two victories in the one-day series came by one wicket, and Smith said if South Africa had not missed opportunities they could have won 5-0.

“Those are the things we learn from and become more clinical, but there are lots of positives as all 15 players have contributed (in the series),” he said.

South Africa next host India for a series of three Tests and five one-dayers and Smith said the tourists would be a tough prospect.

“It’s quite obvious that they (India) are number one Test team in the world and would be ideal to compete,” said Smith, who hailed 35-year-old all-rounder Kallis as one of the greatest players he played with.

“Throughout my career I ran out of things you say about Jacques (Kallis). He is an asset for South African cricket and when he does walk away from the game it’s going to be a big loss to us, but now we got him we want to make the most of him.”

Pakistan and South Africa now play two Tests - one each in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The first Test starts in Dubai on Friday.