Upbeat Pakistan eye victory

KARACHI:

A highly upbeat Pakistan left for Bangladesh late on Thursday to compete in the 16-nation International Cricket Council (ICC) World Twenty20.

Ahead of their departure, all the national players expressed the resolve to give their best shot in the tournament and hoped to become the first side to clinch two titles in the mega event.

Maverick all-rounder Shahid Afridi is scheduled to leave for Bangladesh on March 17 due to an injury.

The former champions, who won the title under Younus Khan in 2009, will open their campaign with a highly-anticipated game against archrivals India on March 21 in Mirpur. The World Twenty20 will get under way on March 16 with the qualifying stage.

In their second Group 2 match, Mohammad Hafeez’s side will take on an in-form Australia, after a day’s gap on Pakistan Day, March 23. They will play their next match on March 27 against a qualifying team before meeting defending champions West Indies on April 1 in their last group fixture.

Moin Khan, who recently saw his team lose the Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka in his first assignment as head coach, was upbeat about his team’s prospects. “It was a disappointing loss but I am satisfied with our overall performance,” the former captain said on the eve of the team’s departure.

“Our team is in good rhythm and all the players are very confident. We are leaving with the best available players and I am hopeful of a good show.”

Moin, a former wicket-keeper, hoped the return of seasoned glovesman Kamran Akmal will improve things behind the wicket apart from empowering the batting. He expressed confidence in fast-bowler Umar Gul as well.

Meanwhile, Hafeez had said that he was happy to start the competition against India and was looking for a flying start in the competition with a win over the neighbours.

India (2007), England (2010) and the West Indies (2012) are the other teams to win the World Twemty20 titles.


Published in The Express Tribune, March 14^th, 2014.