Aim was to bowl consistently in England – Sohail Khan
Aug 20, 2016 at 8:11 PM
Fiery pacer Sohail Khan played a crucial role in Pakistan’s resurgence during their recent test series against England. Khan made an impression first up in Birmingham, as his raw pace and energy-troubled the English batsmen to a great extent. However, due to a batting failure, the game resulted in a defeat for Pakistan.
In the fourth test at The Oval, though, Khan was even more lethal as his five-wicket haul damaged England massively and there was no respite for the hosts. An ideal aspect about the right arm pacer was that he bowled as his spells with an equal amount of energy and his stamina never dropped. Post the series, Khan mentioned that working in minute details in the lead up to the series had helped him big time.
“I had done my homework about their strengths and weaknesses,” Sohail said. “All I did was a bowl in the right areas. Of course, there were runs taken off me because they are fine players, but bowling a tight length reaped me a lot of success. “My aim was to bowl consistently at my line and length. I had told myself to not deviate from it and thankfully it paid off. The English batsmen don’t gift away their wickets. You have to think out of the box to get their scalp. Arriving in England a month ahead also helped me a lot to get acclimatised and understand the Duke ball better.”
Sohail acknowledged the fact that his stamina was quite impressive as he went on bowling spells without getting fatigued. “I wasn’t tired at all,” he mentioned. “I was bowling with the new ball. In English conditions, you need to give more air to the ball so it can swing. It is all about the understanding of the game. Bowling is not only about hammering short-pitched balls at the batsmen or generating pace. It is about varying your pace according to the situation.”
Khan further mentioned that he was working out on his batting, so that he could offer more to the side. “I am working on my batting these days. I aim to become a successful allrounder since modern-day cricket demands from a player to be on top in all facets of the game. I have also been scoring runs in the domestic circuit.”