Pakistan cricket team in Asia Cup: Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan head-to-head
The Pakistani squad for the Asia cup cricket tournament left for Sri Lanka from the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi and have safely reached the city of Colombo.
Thirteen of the fifteen member squad are practicing in Sri Lanka, while Mohammad Asif and all-rounder Abdur Razzaq will join the team in a few days time to start their practice in Dambulla - the venue of the continental event.
On the eve of the departure of the team, Captain Shahid Afridi addressed a big media contingent at the airport and vowed to give his best in Sri Lanka.
Pakistan’s squad for the event sees the return of the two Shoaib’s, Malik and Akhtar after both were out of contention for one reason or another.
In Malik’s case, his one year ban was overturned with-in three months, and in a typical Pakistani way he joins the team from the depths of misery.
On the other hand, the mercurial Akhtar, who was once the fastest bowler in international cricket returns on the back of some solid performances in the national one-day competition, which were held in Karachi in last April.
The team also includes three young batsmen who are yet to make their debuts in the fifty over format; however there are high expectations from the trio of Shahzeb Hasan, Umar Amin and Asad Shafiq.
Interestingly, the men in green have won the coveted title only once, while India and Sri Lanka - the other major cricketing powers of the region - have succeeded in annexing the trophy on four different occasions each.
Meanwhile Shahid Afridi has asked his team-mates to be united on and off the field as the national team attempts to regain their lost pride after the humiliating defeats in Australia earlier in the year.
The Asia Cup is the first assignment for Afridi's team ahead of a busy summer in England, where they will play Australia and England.
Brushing aside the bitter memories of the recent past a confident Afridi declared at the airport, "What has happened cannot be changed,” he added.
He added that the team has to unite and fight together on the field as one; the dynamic all-rounder also claimed that the squad that has been chosen for the Asia Cup assignments is full of spirit and is determined to pull off a win in the four nation event.
Afridi, who owns the world record for the fastest hundred in One-Day International cricket hinted that he would come up with different ways of uniting the players together, including dinner and socializing plans.
The recent problems in the Pakistan team surfaced after the Pakistan Cricket Board conducted an inquiry and punished several players, in the aftermath of the Australian debacle.
Senior batsmen and former captains Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan were banned indefinitely; All-rounder’s Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan were banned for a year, while Afridi, Kamran and Umar Akmal were fined.
No reasons for the penalties were given from the cricketing authorities in the country at the time, but the proceedings of the inquiry committee were revealed after a leaked video.
Subsequently the bans on Malik and Younis were overturned by an arbitrator; while Shahid Afridi's fine was removed while those of the Akmal brothers were reduced.
The national selection committee then included Malik, who was labelled as a bad influence on the team by almost all senior players and management for his attitude during the inquiry, who won a place in the squad for the Asia Cup.
At the airport, Afridi was keen on focusing on Pakistan’s challenges ahead and did not dwell too much on the past.
He observed that his squad for the competition in Sri Lanka was balanced. "We have a very solid bowling attack and the batting is also looking good. There is a lot of potential. What we need is to translate that potential into positive results and that's only possible if each and every player gives his best for the team”.
Pakistan will be taking on reigning champions and hosts Sri Lanka in the tournament opener in Dambulla on June 15 (tomorrow).
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