Pakistan may be the underdogs heading into a Champions Trophy semi-final with unbeaten England in Cardiff who have won all three group matches in the tournament.
Sarfraz is hoping Amir will be fit for the showcase game at The Oval.
Such was Pakistan's control that Ben Stokes's 34 took 64 balls and did not include a single boundary. I think India should reach the final if they play to their strengths.
"Pakistani players played very well especially Sarfraz Ahmed and Mohammad Amir who batted till the end" the President said, according to a statement released by his Press Wing.
England, however, have arguably improved their white-ball game even more since that series.
He had a rather sour start to the Champions Trophy, getting pulverised for 70 runs in his 10 overs as Pakistan were demolished by India at Edgbaston. "We played well against New Zealand, we made 300-plus against England but Australia failed to do so in the same ground against the same opponents", he said. "But, like I've mentioned before, it's a very hard team to get into and you've just got to wait for your chance", he added.
Pak skipper Sarfraz, too, knows well the opposition they are up against.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny arrested on way to protest, wife says
Navalny's wife, Yulia , tweeted that her husband had been detained a half an hour before the start of the scheduled rally. He's been either the president or prime minister of Russian Federation since 1999.
"There's a chance that we could make a change", he said, "obviously we don't announce the team until the toss - but there's a chance there could be a change".
Pakistan were the last team to qualify to the knockouts, beating Sri Lanka in a smashing contest on Monday.
That appeared a paltry return for a team accustomed to a benchmark of at least 100 more of late, but in the circumstances Pakistan would still need to bat as well as they bowled to seal the deal. There's a bit of concern about the middle-order batting, but we will sort out the problems. A two-day turnaround does not leave much time to address such issues but, then again, Pakistan only needed three days to bounce back from a 124-run thrashing by arch-rivals and title-holders India in their tournament opener before defeating top-ranked South Africa.
Their opposite number Bairstow - brought in to open for the first time in global cricket in place of the out-of-form Jason Roy - had responded with a battling 43, but on a used pitch that precluded fluent strokeplay as the ball swung too, England could never get a foothold and folded tamely in their attempt to set a defendable total.
Three-time World Cup finalists England have been trying for the past 42 years to lay claim to a trophy in a major 50 -over tournament.
Bairstow is in prime form after striking a career-best 174 off 113 balls while opening for his county Yorkshire against Durham last month.
England were 128/2 in the 28th over, set for a total of at least 280, but Pakistan have been adept at taking wickets in the middle overs in this tournament, and they hit the home team repeatedly.
Comments