Cricket: Pakistan should keep the faith in Sami Aslam

Dubai - Despite some poor outings on his debut against Bangladesh last year, the 20-year-old has managed to put that behind him and come back a better man

The young Sami Aslam represents the future of Pakistan cricket and could perhaps be the answer to the country's opening troubles.
Thrust onto the scene on the back of impressive performances at the Under-19 level, the left-hander is showing a lot of promise.
Despite some poor outings on his debut against Bangladesh last year, the 20-year-old has managed to put that behind him and come back a better man. And Pakistan should keep the faith in him.
But the former Under-19 captain has been a tad unlucky and has been unable to translate his three half centuries into hundreds.
He made 82 in Pakistan's first innings against England in Birmingham in August this year and followed it up with 70 in the second dig.
And on the first day of the first day-night Test in Dubai on Thursday, Aslam fell 10 runs short. Aslam said that luck again was not on his side after he was bowled by Roston Chase.
"I wasn't nervous at all. In England, I got out on 82, I was run out. So, I was a bit unlucky there. Here, I wasn't nervous at all and I played my natural game. It was just that I was a bit unlucky that I couldn't make a century," said Aslam.
"I hit a four over the top when I was on 86. So, I was playing my normal game and I was playing according to the merit of the ball. Perhaps, it wasn't a scoring shot," he added.
Nevertheless, the massive opening stand with senior batsman Azhar Ali gave Pakistan the foundation after which they moved from strength to strength.
"I really enjoyed it (the partnership with Azhar Ali). Azhar bhai is a senior player and I got a lot of help from him. And in mind, I wanted to play positively and score big. The pitch was flat and I had made up my mind to score big," Aslam said.
Aslam also said that it was a new experience playing a day-night Test, with the pink ball and under lights and also felt honoured to be a part of Pakistan's 400th Test.
"It was a good experience as it was the first day-night Test match for Pakistan. And playing a Test match under lights was a new experience. As the Dubai pitch is flat, it didn't help the fast bowlers that much," he said.
"All the players were excited and it is a matter of honour that we were playing the 400th Test match and the first day-night Test for Pakistan. So, it is good to be a part of history," he added.
Pakistan were a bit slow to start off with but Aslam said that the cautious start by the openers was because they weren't sure how the pink ball would behave.
"I feel we were 20-25 runs short. It was the first time that the pink ball was being used so there were a lot of things going through the mind on whether it will swing a lot more. So, we were a bit conscious at the beginning," said Aslam.
james@khaleejtimes.com