Our T20 team is making rapid improvement

KARACHI: Shahid Afridi believes that Pakistan’s Twenty20 team is showing rapid improvement, adding that he expects it to peak at next year’s ICC World Twenty20 championship in India.
Having failed in their bid to win the coveted title during the last three editions, Pakistan will be desperate to regain the crown they last claimed six years ago.
For Afridi, too, it is going to be the last chance to lead Pakistan to a world title as he is unlikely to continue playing international cricket beyond next year’s T20 spectacle in India.
But as a man, who has featured in a total of 10 world events – five each in the 50 and 20-over formats — during an illustrious career, Pakistan’s Twenty20 captain is making no promises.
He is well aware of the fact that a variety of factors have to go in your favour for you to win a world title. During his career, Afridi has featured in world cup events starting from 1999 but Pakistan were victorious just once.
“It is easy to say that we will go to India and win the T20 World Cup but I’m not making any such promises,” he told ‘The News’ in an interview on Thursday.
“But that doesn’t mean that I’m not confident about my team’s chances. I know for sure that our (T20) players have been showing rapid improvement and as captain I’m certain that they will give their best in the World Cup next year,” he stressed.
Pakistan lost in a photo-finish in the final of the inaugural T20 World Cup against old rivals India in South Africa and then went on to win the 2009 edition in England with Afridi proving to be their most valuable player.
But Pakistan, once regarded as the strongest team in the slam-bang format of the game, has experienced a decline in recent years and even failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the previous edition held in Bangladesh. It was the first time in the history of the T20 World Cup that Pakistan failed to make the cut for the last four.
There was a ray of hope for Pakistan when they beat Sri Lanka – the reigning world T20 champions — 2-0 in a two-match Twenty20 series earlier this summer.
“That series has served as a good launch pad for our team as the all the boys especially the younger ones are proving their value and have shown a lot of hunger,” Afridi said.
“These are all good signs and as captain I’m happy with the progress our team has been making in the lead up to the World Cup,” he added.
Pakistan will play Twenty20 matches in Zimbabwe, in UAE (against England) and New Zealand ahead of the Twenty20 World Cup to be held in India from March 11-April 3.
“We have ample number of matches for the boys to get fully ready for the World Cup and I’m confident that our team will peak at the right time,” the seasoned all-rounder said.
The sixth edition of ICC World Twenty20 championship is still more than six months away but the event is already generating some controversy.
Media reports emerging from India have suggested that due to pressure from Hindu extremists the event’s organisers will not have any of the tournament matches involving Pakistan in Mumbai and Nagpur.
The Hindu extremist Shiv Sena party is already making a big fuss about Pakistan’s participation in the World Twenty20 championship on Indian soil. According to some reports, it has already been decided by the Indian cricket board (BCCI) that Pakistan will not be playing in either Mumbai or Nagpur – the two tournament venues that are in Maharashtra, the state where Shiv Sena yields a lot of influence.
Maharashtra has two Test centres — Vidarbha Cricket Association in Nagpur and MCA (Wankhede Stadium) — which have been picked to host T20 World Cup next year. The other venues are Kolkata, Dharamsala, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi and Mohali.
Asked whether he is concerned about such reports, Afridi said that it is too early to comment on such issues. “Whenever Pakistan play cricket in India such issues are there,” he said.