Pakistan batsmen must fire for team's survival: Batting coach

Pakistan batting coach Grant Flower feels the batsmen need to show more spine for the team to progress beyond the World Cup quarterfinals.
In a media talk at Adelaide on Wednesday, the former Test player from Zimbabwe felt the best was still to come from the Pakistani batsmen.
"They are yet to fire and I would like to think their best is still to come and if not then we wouldn't go too much further into the tournament," Flower said.
The Zimbabwean has been with the Pakistan team since last year and batting remains a major concern for the greenshirts as they have managed just one total of 300 plus in the World Cup, that too against UAE.

"I expect the top order to show some more spine because that is what the guys are paid for. They are aware that they can bat a lot better than they have. But the signs were there against UAE and they played some positive cricket against a good South African attack."
Flower also praised the performance of wicketkeeper-batsman, Sarfraz Ahmed against South Africa.

"He was struggling for a while leading up to the match but he has come into good form and he is hitting the ball really well and he used his feet against the South Africans and he showed intent to take it to the opposition," he said.

The Zimbabwean admitted that some of the Pakistani players had mental and technical problems and some came under pressure which was why they were not delivering to their potential.
"It varies with different players. With some players it is mental, with others it is technical, some players come under a bit of pressure, you can't say specifically it is a combination of these things," he said.
He said Ireland would come strong against Pakistan in their next game on a flat pitch in Adelaide and Pakistani batsmen needed to play big shots and attack and get boundaries.
He said he was satisfied with the performance of the players in Test cricket since he took charge.

"From batting perspective in Test cricket, the guys have played really well in but in One day cricket we can improve a lot more but I say they are lot of positives but still lot of work has to be done," he added.