Waqar confident team will do well in World T20

Coach backs players to use added pressure to their advantage

KARACHI:

With Pakistan finally getting the green signal from their government to travel to India, coach Waqar Younis wants the team to not be bogged down by the events of the past week.

Waqar said that the team has had to deal with politically tense situations before as well, and the team can take the pressure with a positive frame of mind.



After days of political tug of war between the Pakistani and Indian governments, sanity finally prevailed on Friday when Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan agreed to allow the team to leave.

Cricket has come to the fore once again and Waqar feels Pakistan will do well in the World T20 as they prepare to depart on Saturday morning through an Etihad Airways flight that will take them from Lahore to Abu Dhabi and then to Kolkata.

“Pakistan were in a similar situation back in 1999 as well,” said Waqar. “I was part of that tour and the situation was even worse back then but we went on to do well and won the Test series. We’ll go with a positive frame of mind because this pressure can be used as a motivation.”

Waqar added that the conditions will suit Pakistan. “We play well in sub-continent conditions and our record speaks for itself,” he said. “We’ll be a tough opposition as we did well in the 2011 World Cup also.”



The 44-year-old admitted that the Men in Green were below-par in the recently concluded Asia Cup, where they failed to even reach the final. “Pakistan were not up to the mark in the Asia Cup but we have to lift the spirits to ensure our performances are much better in the World T20,” he said.

The former captain shared that during the meeting with the team, PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan motivated the players and asked each of them individually whether they wanted to go to India or not, with all of them expressing eagerness to do so despite the probable security risk involved.

The World T20 team will have two new faces as compared to the Asia Cup squad, with Ahmad Shahzad and Khalid Latif coming in for Khurram Manzoor and Iftikhar Ahmad.



“Our batting has been a disappointment, which is why some changes have been made,” added Waqar. “To be fair, conditions in Bangladesh were difficult for batsmen. They would be better in Kolkata and Mohali, so I expect us to do well. The plan is to maximise the Powerplay because you need to have momentum right from the start.”

Meanwhile, skipper Shahid Afridi also felt that the batsmen would have to take responsibility as he prepares for a last hurrah in international cricket.

“We haven’t done well in recent matches,” said the all-rounder on Twitter. “But we are ready for the World T20. The batsmen must take responsibility and score enough for the bowlers to defend. We want to leave behind the uncertainty and concerns. We only want to focus on cricket and winning.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 12^th, 2016.

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