Miandad says ODI series against Australia won't be easy

Former batting legend, Javed Miandad fears Pakistan's five match ODI series against Australia starting in Brisbane from Friday will not be an easy one and the green shirts would have to play with all their might to save them from going into the qualifiers of the World Cup 2019.

Pakistan is in serious danger of failing to qualify directly for the ICC CWC 2019 in the United Kingdom as it currently sits on eighth position in the ODI Team Rankings.

To at least maintain its pre-series ranking points, Pakistan needs to win one match of the series while victories in more than one match will earn it crucial points.

If Pakistan wins two matches then it will join Bangladesh on 91 points but will be ranked behind its Asian rivals by a fraction.

In the scenario of Pakistan winning the series it will move ahead of Bangladesh and as such will enhance its chances of qualifying directly for the event.

Talking to APP, Miandad said our team's morale and confidence is low after the Test series loss against Australia.

"We lack technique stability and approach in all three formats which needs to be addressed," he said. Miandad advised players to play for the country like a team.

"Any individual performances won t matter in the series unless we win it," the former skipper said. 

ODI Captain Azhar Ali should lead the team from the front as all that matters in and off the field is captaincy he said.

Responding to a question Miandad said Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) must think about Test Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq's replacement. "We must think about the future as Misbah can stick only to one or more series but not permanently". 

Former International Cricket Council (ICC) President Zaheer Abbas said Pakistan can only do well in the ODI series if it forgets its previous Test series loss."Players must not think about the Test series loss and should move on with a fresh start". 

Responding to a question Zaheer Abbad said Sarfraz Ahmed's absence must not haunt the team and the players should play with full confidence.

Speaking about Misbah's retirement after the Test series loss he said it's up to the board and Misbah to clear out things about the future.