DHAKA – Pakistan remain supremely relaxed about the identity of their World Cup semi-final opponents after making no contest of Wednesday’s opening quarter-final against West Indies. Shahid Afridi led his men to a sweeping 10-wicket victory to set up a semi-final on March 30 in Mohali against the winners of Thursday’s tie between India and Australia. “We had done very well so far in this tournament and I am not really fussed who we play,” coach Waqar Younis told a news conference. “We play well and to do things right is more important to us. Whoever comes we will have a close look tomorrow and make a strategy as we have six to seven days in hand.
” Younis preferred to concentrate on Pakistan’s performance rather than decry West Indies’ manifest weaknesses after they collapsed to 112 all out. “I think one should give credit to the Pakistan cricket team, we played very positive cricket when had ball in our hand and batted superbly,” he said. “I know West Indies for a long time and they ruled the world for a long time and they can upset anybody. “The entire country watched the game and they prayed for us. It’s a kind of a gift to them as this was Pakistan Day and it was in my mind from last night so I am over the moon at the moment.
“The pressure in a way gave us a boost when we walked in. Pressure got the best out of us.” West Indies’ coach Ottis Gibson refused to make any excuses for his team’s abject performance. “We have scrambled into the quarter-finals, let’s be honest about that. We had some good performances against Ireland, Netherlands and Bangladesh but we are still yet to beat one of the big boys,” he said. “The wicket did not get anybody out. It didn’t look to be a bad wicket at all. It’s a combination of poor batsmanship and perhaps very low confidence…we can do only so much in the nets to build confidence.”
