KARACHI:
Despite Pakistan failing to impress in the previous World Cup matches, former skipper Mohammad Yousuf believes the team will reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
The batting legend believed that things were coming together for Misbah-ul-Haq’s team mates.
Having opened their campaign with back-to-back losses against India and the Windies, Pakistan kept alive their ‘World Cup’ hopes with victory against Zimbabwe on Sunday.
Following the game against UAE, South Africa meets team Pakistan on Saturday before clashing with Ireland in their final Pool ‘B’ fixture on March 15.
“I believe Pakistan will make it to the last eight of the showpiece,” Yousuf said in an interview here, predicting Pakistan will play New Zealand in the quarter-final in Wellington on March 21. “Ireland’s huge loss [to the Proteas] will help Pakistan in catching them up on net run-rate if it comes down to that in the end.”
Yousuf added he was baffled at wicket-keeper/batsman Sarfraz Ahmed being excluded from the Playing XI. “Dropping him is bewildering as he is currently the most courageous batsman we have in the team,” he said.
Yousuf further claimed that with the match being held at the Adelaide Oval, it was going to be an easy win for Pakistan as the pitch is good for batting.
“We’ve got good batsmen,” he said. “But they need to take responsibility and fire the team to bigger totals.”
