DHAKA: Pakistan landed on Indian soil for the first time in almost four years on Friday with an aim to squash World Cup hopes of the home nation.
They’ve been unwelcome in India since their 2007 tour, in the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, but the Pakistanis grabbed a ticket to the second semifinal in Mohali after crushing West Indies by ten wickets here on Wednesday.
Now their next target is to shoot down India, the hot favourites for the title.
It’s a tough task considering the fact that India are regarded as the best batting side of the tournament and will begin the match as favourites since they also have the home advantage.
But Shahid Afridi, the Pakistan captain, believes his team is capable of beating India.
“We can do it,” he told ‘The News’ before boarding a flight to New Delhi.
“The way our team has played in this World Cup especially in the last two games, I’m sure that it has the guts to beat any team and that includes India,” said the allrounder.
He was referring to Pakistan’s morale-boosting win against Australia in Colombo last week and the quarter-final triumph over West Indies.
But Afridi admitted that his team is facing a tough task.
“We will be playing against a difficult team at a difficult venue,” he said.
“We will have to give our best. I’ve been telling my boys to just play with the same motivation and determination with which they played our last two matches. If they do that then I’m sure we are going to reach the final.”
Afridi said that he and his teammates were hoping that they face India in the semifinal.
“We wanted India to be our opponents in the semifinals because we’ve mostly done well against them in India,” he said.
Waqar Younis, the Pakistan coach, agreed that there will be extra pressure on his boys when they will take the field against India in Mohali.
“The pressure will be there, there is no doubt about it,” said the former Pakistan captain.
“It’s a World Cup semifinal and that too against India in their own backyard. It’s our job to ensure that the team’s performance is not affected by it. Personally, I’m confident that our boys are capable of handling any kind of pressure.”
Pakistan, the 1992 champions, have been in awesome form since losing to New Zealand by 110 runs in Pallekele (Sri Lanka) and have beaten Australia (by four wickets) and West Indies (by ten wickets) in their last two matches.
Waqar, who was a part of the Pakistan team that fell to India in the quarterfinal of the 1996 World Cup in Bangalore, is confident that his players will capiatlise on the momentum when they take on India.
“The momentum is with us and that’s a great sign ahead of the semifinals. What our players will have to ensure is that they continue giving their best,” Waqar said.
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