Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Our aim is to win all group matches: Afridi


Skipper Shahid Afridi has said that our main aim is to win all our group matches where Pakistan will face Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, Zimbabwe and Canada.
“There have been so many upsets in the World Cup in the past, like the one against Ireland four years ago, so we have that in mind and we will be on our toes in every match, be it Kenya or Sri Lanka,” Cricket 365 quoted Afridi as saying.
The current Pakistan squad has only four survivors from that Irish defeat – Younis Khan, Umar Gul, Mohammad Hafeez and Kamran Akmal – but Afridi said no player has
forgotten the shattering loss.
“It can happen any time if you are not focused, and the defeat against Ireland can never be forgotten. So we need to be at our best and give nothing to our rivals,” said Afridi, who sat out that match due to a ban.
Pakistan is likely to rest paceman Shoaib Akhtar in a bid to keep him fresh for the match against Sri Lanka on February 26.
That would make way for left-arm paceman Junaid Khan to make his debut who grabbed three wickets against England in a warm up match.
Kenya captain Jimmy Kamande vowed to have a different approach against Pakistan, after his team was shot out for a paltry 69 against New Zealand.
“Next game, it’ll be different opposition and a different approach from us. I would be happy as long as we improve each and every game,” said Kamande, whose team reached the semi-final in the 2003 World Cup.
“We didn’t express ourselves (in the first match). The young boys were nervous. The two young lads who opened (Seren Waters and Alex Obanda) were a bit nervous, but I hope things will change,” said Kamande.

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