Zimbabwe series good for Asia Cup preparation, says Sarfaraz Ahmed

Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed has said that the recently concluded five-match ODI series against Zimbabwe was used by the team for the Asia Cup preparations and they learned a lot from it.

"We were keen to use this series as preparation for Asia Cup and we learnt a lot here," The Express Tribune quoted Sarfaraz Ahmed, as saying.

The 31-year-old, who led the Pakistani side to a 5-0 victory in the ODI series, said that Zimbabwe is a changed side and they never thought of a clean sweep against them.

"We took each match one by one and the credit goes to the players as they were focused and didn't take Zimbabwe lightly," Ahmed said.

"We weren't thinking about whitewash. It was a combined team effort and everyone stepped up and performed," he added.

Reflecting on his own performance in the series, Sarfaraz said that he did not get many chances to bat, but he is happy with the team's performance.

The ODI series against Zimbabwe proved to be a historic one for Pakistan as they broke a series of records.

Riding on the back of the smashing knock of 201 runs by their opening batsman Fakhar Zaman in the fourth match, Pakistan put up their highest-ever total of 399 runs in the ODIs.

Along with that, Fakhar Zaman became the first ever Pakistani player to hit a double century in the one-day internationals (ODIs).

In the same match, Pakistan batsman Imam-ul-Haq and Zaman built a record-breaking 304-run partnership surpassing the previous record of 263 runs set by Aamir Sohail and Inzamam-ul-Haq against New Zealand in 1994.

On a related note, the Asia Cup Cricket Tournament is slated to be held from September 13 to 28 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).