Ijaz Butt pleased with Pakistan’s performance - ICC World Cup 2011
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ijaz-Butt-c64128, was delighted with the performance of his team in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2011. He claimed that the team’s performance would help international cricket to return to Pakistan.
Butt praised the Cornered Tigers and said, “We are all proud of our boys and the way they have performed to reach the semi-finals. It is a great credit to them that despite the problems http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 cricket has faced in the last few months they have shown the
courage and spirit to fight on.”
The PCB chairman further added, “I was always confident that this team had the capability of reaching the semi-finals now it is just a matter of two matches and I hope they can continue their good form and confidence in these matches.”
Butt stated that a good show in the World Cup was very important for the nation and he was glad that the players and management realised that.
Pakistan defeated http://www.senore.com/Cricket/March-c74391. There was a lot of pressure on the men-in-green, as the Windies captain, Darren Sammy, had elected to bat after winning the toss.
However, the Pakistani bowlers responded well to the situation and they bundled the Windies team up for just 112. In reply to the West Indian total, the Pakistan openers batted bravely and guided their team to a ten-wicket victory.
Although Pakistan are not known to chase well, the green shirts have won three consecutive games against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 and West Indies batting second. These performances have boosted the morale of the Pakistan team, who faced a lot of controversies
in the past couple of years.
The problems started in March 2009, when the Sri Lankan team was attacked by militants in Lahore. Luckily most of the players stayed safe while a couple of them suffered injuries, but this saw a suspension of international cricket in Pakistan.
Pakistan were scheduled to host the current World Cup matches along with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758. However, the difficult situation in the country ruled that possibility out.
The problems didn’t come to an end after that for Pakistan cricket. The team suffered many match-fixing and spot-fixing scandals and several players in the team were banned or fined by the PCB.
Things worsened for the team on their tour to England under new captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Salman-c88163 Butt. Three top players including Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Salman were charged for spot-fixing and they were served lengthy bans by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
It seemed as if Pakistan had no chance of doing well in the mega event, as their confidence was bruised badly. However, captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 and coach Waqar Younis rallied the team nicely ahead of the tournament. This helped Pakistan surprise most critics
and now all eyes are set on the green shirts, who have qualified for the final four of the World Cup.
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