Pakistan appointed former captain and batting legend Javed Miandad as batting adviser to the national team following recent heavy defeats to Sri Lanka, an official said Thursday. The appointment of the 51-year-old came after Pakistan's humiliating 2-0 defeat in Tests and 3-2 loss in the one-day series in Sri Lanka, results which were blamed on Pakistan's performance with the bat.
Pakistan finished the tour with a 52-run win in the Twenty20 match against Sri Lanka on Wednesday. "We have requested Miandad help our team's batting before next month's Champions Trophy in South Africa and take care of (the team's) problems," Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt told a press conference.
Needing 97 to win on the fourth day of the first Test in Galle, Pakistan then suffered a dramatic collapse, losing eight wickets to crash to a 50-run defeat. In the second Test they found themselves in a commanding position of 285-1 only to throw away nine wickets for a paltry 35 runs, handing Sri Lanka a seven-wicket victory. "We had batting failures and I will be meeting each and every player here on Friday," said Butt. "I will then brief the media about the causes of the defeats."