Pakistan batsman Azhar Ali has backed India to win the upcoming five-match Test series in England.
In an interview with PakPassion.net, Ali said the prevailing warm weather conditions in England give India an advantage for their batsman would prosper in good batting conditions.
“The prevailing warm weather conditions in England at the moment seem to favour an India victory in the Test series in my view. They are after all, ranked as the number one Test side in the world and the only thing England have in their favour is the fact that they are playing on their home grounds.
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“England may have a good bowling attack for home conditions but in good batting conditions, the Indian batsmen will prosper and can easily put their team in a winning position when the series starts,” he said while talking to the Pakistan website.
KOHLI, THE BEST
The 33-year-old, who holds the distinction of being the first batsman to score a triple hundred in Day/Night Tests, was all praise for Indian skipper Virat Kohli, dubbing him the fittest cricketer in the world.
“I believe the most important ingredient of Virat Kohli’s success is his determination to succeed. His composure in any situation is simply amazing.
“The level of professionalism that he shows in the game is comfortably the best in the game.His attention to fitness is exemplary and how he has steadily improved game year on year is just incredible.
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“So, it’s all down to his hard-work and his desire to improve his fitness to the extent that I do not believe that any batsmen in the world can match him in that aspect.”
Attributing Kohli’s ability to dish out long inning with ease to his super fitness, Ali said the Indian captain is the perfect role model for young cricketers from across the world to emulate.
“His fitness is demonstrated by the amount of long innings he plays seemingly without being tired. All these qualities are great examples for any youngster to appreciate and are things that they can learn from Virat Kohli to become better cricketers,” the right-handed opener said.
100-TESTS TARGET
Ali, who is among the most experienced players in Pakistan Test team after the retirement of veterans Misbah-Ul-Haq and Younis Khan, has set his eyes on playing 100 Tests for the country. He also wants to be part of Pakistan’s 2019 ODI World Cup team.
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“What I am looking forward to is to play as long as I can for my country. In doing so, I would like to reach the 100 Tests milestone for Pakistan. I have already played 65 Tests so far so there are another 35 to go before I can I achieve that goal.
“At that point, I will see where I stand in terms of runs. Obviously to get to any such milestone such as the 100 Test mark, I will have to perform very well and once that happens, anything is possible,” he said.
He also praised Pakistan youngsters Babar Azam, Hasan Ali and Fakhar Zaman for performing admirably in limited-overs format and hoped they would be able to establish themselves in the country’s Test team as well in near future.
Source: HindustanTimes