Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer has expressed his satisfaction with the side's 2-0 Test series win over England but is telling his players to remain focused for the one-day internationals and the series against India.
"I look at it as a special achievement by the players. They have prepared and worked very hard to beat England. It is special for me also. But we have harder challenges ahead and we can't afford to get carried away," Woolmer told Reuters.
Pakistan scored their first Test series win since Woolmer took charge in June last year. It was also their first series win since January 2004, when they had triumphed in New Zealand.
"They are certainly more attuned to doing the right thing in tests now. Cricket is a game in which you must never be complacent. We can enjoy the moment but we have to sit down and work out where to go from here. It's upwards and not downwards."
Woolmer faced lot of criticism after replacing former captain Javed Miandad but said he was enjoying being part of an improving side.
"It is nice to be involved in a process where you can see a gradual improvement in the way this team is now approaching test and one-day cricket. It is a sweet feeling for a coach," he added.
GOOD WORK: Woolmer, who played 19 tests for England and coached South Africa for five years, said Pakistan still needed to do more to be recognised as a leading side in world cricket.
"The one-day series against England is going to be a big ask. We have won the test series and we need to carry on the good work," he said.
"Then we face India and they have progressed well since we toured there and beat them 4-1 in the one-day series."
Pakistan take on England in five one-day internationals from December 10 before hosting India for three Tests and five one-dayers early next year.
"India is going to be a tough series for us because we need to prepare differently against them. They have couple of quality players and they will be hard to beat," he said.
"England came here having won the Ashes and unbeaten in their last six series.
"A lot of planning and preparation went into our win. Small things like practicing against the rising ball, how to build partnerships have all contributed to our performances."
"England were not well prepared for this tour.
"They didn't get the ideal start in the two warm-up games. But modern cricket is played like this. When we went to India we played in cold winds in Dharamsala and than immediately moved to warmer Mohali for a Test."
Comments
Comments are closed.