Former Pakistan wicketkeeper Moin Khan, part of the World Cup-winning side of 1992, has said that the current team has what it takes to go the distance in the 2015 edition of the tournament. Pakistan won the last time the World Cup was staged in Australia and New Zealand, and the return of the mega event has rekindled memories from 22 years ago in Pakistan’s chairman of selectors.
In the 1992 World Cup, Pakistan had travelled to Australia a month before the start of the tournament to get used to the conditions. Despite playing a fair amount of warm-up games, Pakistan did not get off to a good start and after losses to India, West Indies, South Africa and a no-result against England, they were staring at elimination.
However, before the start of the game against Australia in Perth, skipper Imran Khan gave an inspirational motivation speech that changed Pakistan’s fortunes completely. Speaking to PakPassion.net, Moin spoke about that moment.
“We were definitely very depressed about the whole situation but something changed when the match against Australia came up. We had a great team meeting before the match where Imran Khan and other seniors spoke to us. They motivated the youngsters in the team with a pep talk. I recall that even the youngsters took an active part in the meeting and suggested a few things that they could think of. We put our heart and soul in that game and kept ourselves alive in the tournament. That match was special and the turning point of our campaign, in that it helped us build momentum from that point onwards. After winning that match, we started to feel that we were unbeatable. There was a confidence and a belief that had suddenly come about in the team and we felt motivated to move on.”
The term ‘Cornered Tigers’ became a rallying point for Imran and his team after the Australia match and they went on to win their first World Cup by defeating England in the final at the MCG. When asked whether the current Pakistan team has the same ‘Cornered Tiger’ spirit, Moin replied in the affirmative.
“I believe this ODI team does have the Cornered Tigers spirit and they have shown it. Let me also tell you that this kind of attitude shows up when team members start thinking carefully as to what their responsibility is and what people expect from them. When you start thinking like this then you put in your hundred percent. When everyone does that effort then the team appears united and moves towards a common goal. You have to sacrifice a lot and you have to make sure that you are there for each member of your team; in the good and bad times to appreciate and encourage them. The Cornered Tigers spirit will only come about when you ask yourself if you really want success or not. Once you make that decision, then you move ahead and put all distractions to the side; even your own family comes second,” Moin said.
Moin, who is currently the chief selector and team manager of the Pakistan team, praised Sarfraz Ahmed and believes he has a future as captain for Pakistan. He said, “He’s a great listener and pays careful attention to any advice I give to him. He tries to apply that in match situations, which is excellent. My advice to him is always to take pride in what you do and play your natural game; enjoy yourself when you are out there. I tell him that we need runs – don’t think about getting out etc, play run scoring shots with whichever technique you want to use. Not only me but Waqar has worked very hard with Sarfraz as has Mushtaq Ahmed. The skipper, Misbah-ul-Haq also has great faith in him and I understand that he recently said that Sarfraz was like ‘Oxygen’ to the team. What other compliment can a player expect than this one from his captain?”
Although Pakistan lost the recent ODI series against New Zealand 2-3, Moin said some individual performances stood out. He added that Yasir Shah and Zulfiqar Babar’s attitude during the Test series against Australia and New Zealand as well as Sarfraz’s performance gave him plenty of cheer. “I have to admit that I have never seen such performances from any Pakistan team in my career. It is unfortunate that we lost the ODI series against Australia although, we could have been the winners in the final ODI. We also came close to a good result in the final ODI of the New Zealand series but all that matters now is to take the positive momentum forward,” he said.
