Australian star reveals Pakistan’s likely strategy ahead of Adelaide ODI on Friday

Mohammad Rizwan led Pakistan to lose the first ODI by two wickets on Monday in Melbourne. The series now moves to Adelaide with the second game to be played at the famous Adelaide Oval. If the current ODI World Cup winners go on to beat Pakistan they will wrap up the series with one game left on Sunday. 

Opening batter Matthew Short was looking forward to the second ODI in Adelaide. The right-handed batter spoke to the media and addressed the likely strategy Pakistan can employ during the game. 

Short said “We saw Pakistan's tactics in Melbourne bowling pretty short. But I think they may have to change that a little bit at this ground with the shorter square boundaries which are the complete opposite to the 'G. It's always a nice ground to bat on."

Pakistan likely to make few changes during 2nd ODI

Naseem Shah who excelled with the bat with 40 runs also picked the wicket of Jake Fraser-McGurk. The right-arm pacer was forced off the park while he was bowling his 8th over. So far there are no reports on the fitness of Naseem Shah but he will likely miss the game. 

Pacer Haris Rauf speaking at the end of the opening game said to ESPNCRICINFO, “We were all trying our best, whether in the field or with the ball. We had a plan to bowl short from my end. We had success; we took a few wickets this way."

The right-arm pacer bowled with fire and brought his team back into the game. His wickets of Labuschagne and Maxwell seemed to have turned the tide of the game. Australian batters seemed uncomfortable during the chase.

Haris Rauf also said, “We did give away extras, but when you attack, you have to accept that these things happen. We did make mistakes, and we were a bit untidy. We know these little things make an impact. If you're a good bowling unit, then you can cover the batters falling 20-30 runs short if you tighten up in the field as well.”

The Pakistani seamer though said that he expected his team to defend the total. “We could have defended this, and we all tried hard. The game didn't go our way, but we gave no quarter in terms of our energy and our effort," he concluded.