Misbah aiming for Champions Trophy title

Captain banking on South Africa tour experiences to do well in England.

ABBOTABAD: After having learnt their lessons well during the South Africa tour, Pakistan captain Misbahul Haq is positive his team can do well in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy as the training camp at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium (ACS) ended yesterday.

Misbah appeared satisfied with preparations at the six-day training camp where legends including Javed Miandad and Wasim Akram apart from the national coaching panel supervised the sessions.

“The targets set at the camp were achieved to an extent,” said Misbah after the last session. “The purpose to set up the camp here was to avoid distractions and training in a colder environment. Preparing on green-top pitches will also help our bowlers and batsmen in England.”

The captain also marked the title as the team’s goal at the Champions Trophy — the last time the event is being held.

“Like every other team, we are also aiming for the title. It is always an honour to win ICC events and we will give our best efforts. The experience of playing in South Africa conditions will prove to be very beneficial. We have tough teams in our pool but I hope the team will not face any problems. We had a tough tour of South Africa and now we’re ready to take on the opposition.”

Meanwhile, the captain added that there was still some work that needed to be done in the fielding and players’ fitness departments to match the international standards.



“We are improving our fielding and fitness but we are still behind the international standards. These are the areas which we need to work on consistently.”

The captain was unperturbed at missing out on the Indian Premier League, expressing satisfaction on the players’ preparations.

‘Team has match winners despite Younus, Afridi’s absence’

To a query on Younus Khan and Shahid Afridi who were dropped for the Champions Trophy, the captain said tough decisions have to be taken sometimes.

“It is tough to replace experienced players. However, there’s a lot of depth in the team and match-winners can cover up their absence.”

Meanwhile, head coach Dav Whatmore, who accompanied the captain, said Pakistan had the potential to do well.

“Our goal is to give our best in every game. We have the ability to do well against any team.”

The players will now assemble on May 13 to depart for the UK that will start with a One-Day International series against Scotland and Ireland. The Champions Trophy will start on June 6.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 9^th, 2013.