http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Green-c60723 launch World Cup mission
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 captain, Shahid Afridi, thinks that his team has the potential to make it to the semi-finals of the World Cup cricket tournament that starts on the 19th of this month.
The Men in Green departed for the coveted event yesterday from Lahore and are aiming to finish amongst the top four teams when the event ends with the final at http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820 on 2nd April.
Pakistan has been written off by many cricketing pundits, who are of the opinion that the team is rife with strife and is not capable of challenging the best in the business especially after the loss of the tainted trio of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamir.
Though Afridi disagrees with the notion, he stated that he has complete confidence and the team was galvanizing under his leadership, which is a strong indication that they mean business.
He stated that the team has been working on trying to get an identity on the field, which can be recognized by the passionate fans of the game in the troubled nation. He offered real hope to his team as they braced for the biggest challenge in international cricket.
"It's coming along. We've got some good young players in the set-up now, guys like Umar [Akmal], [Ahmed] Shehzad, Wahab [Riaz] mixed with some experienced guys. I see us as the most dangerous team at the World Cup".
The current squad is a great mix of talent and experience and some of the players are ready to make an impression at the World Cup after being around the international scene for some time. The prominent amongst them is the trio from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972, the vice-captain, spinners Saeed Ajmal, and, Abdur Rehman.
Afridi has a good batting line-up also to back up his plans. The opening pair has done reasonably well, with both Mohammad Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad scoring hundreds in the recently concluded ODI series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754.
The centuries were the first for the duo, while on the other hand the middle order includes two stalwarts in Younis Khan and Misbah, who both have the potential to bat out the overs and post big scores for their team.
“We have batsmen like Younis [Khan] and Misbah who can play long innings, guys in the middle who are power-hitters. We have wicket-taking bowlers so I'm happy that we have a balanced side".
Afridi also claims that the recent captaincy controversy is a thing of the past and both he and Misbah, who gave him a real tough fight for the spot, are focusing on the tournament. He stated that the media in Pakistan needed to support the team rather than pointing fingers at them at this crucial time.
The man known for his brutal hitting and nicknamed BOOM BOOM by cricket commentators had stated that he was not concerned about leading the team or playing as an ordinary member when his leadership was questioned by many quarters.
He, however, stated that he did not like being unnecessarily criticized by a bunch of former cricketers, who were questioning his batting and bowling form without realizing that he had been the top performer of his team with the bat and the ball in his reign as well as the entire year of 2010.
"There is uneducated criticism of my performances from former players on TV", he said. "They should know that over the last year [in 2010] I have scored the most runs and taken the most wickets for Pakistan".
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