‘Can’t rely on Afridi, Kaneria is the future’

Ask him to compare Afridi with Kaneria and Alam simply shrugs off: ‘‘You cannot rely on him (Afridi). Kaneria is very good and has a great future. Looking at the way he came into this series, he handled the pressure very well.’’ Alam is quick to remind about Kaneria’s impressive performances Down Under which put him in further reckoning for the all-important tour of India. ‘‘Afridi,’’ on the other hand ‘‘lacks patience of a Test cricketer. He could be a far better player but that is still to get into him,’’ he says.

The former Pakistan cricketer bluntly believes that Afridi still has some strides to cover to keep wearing the Test cap. ‘‘Even his batting is dodgy, it is in flashes, something which is there and suddenly not there.’’

Alam feels that on a track where Kaneria managed to turn his deliveries almost a full square, the Indians should have tried less to defend and rather gone about with the whole thing in a more aggressive manner.