Shoaib's comeback has made things difficult for England

London--England cricket captain Andrew Strauss has said that Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar's comeback in his national side had made things difficult for the hosts, and that Pakistan were now a much stronger side compared to their Test squad.
"Shoaib is an effective bowler. Tonight, he was mostly bowling at 90 mph which made things tough for us," The News quoted Strauss as saying.
He further said that Akhtar's comeback has added 'another dimension' to the Pakistani bowling attack.
Shoaib missed the Tests earlier because of an ankle stress fracture.
About the last ODI that was interrupted and cancelled due to bad weather, Strauss said that England had little hopes of saving the match had weather not interrupted. He pointed out that England's 202 were not enough to win the match against Pakistan who, according to him, had a solid batting line-up. The Pakistanis are the favourites to win the one-day series, but a good showing from his players can give them a chance in the five-match contest, added Strauss.
Meanwhile, England have decided against replacing injured pacer Steven Harmison for the remaining four matches of the one-day series. Harmison, who took 20 wickets in the Test series against Pakistan, was ruled out of the contest because of a nagging back problem.—Agencies