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Pakistan
trying their best to avoid playing in India
Wednesday March 02, 2011 07:11:21 PM,
Omar Khalid, IANS
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Colombo: In their bid
to avoid intimidating Indian crowds in Ahmedabad and Mohali,
venues of the quarterfinal and semi-final matches, Pakistan
captain Shahid Afridi appealed to his team mates to give their
best so that they top Group A and play their knock-out World Cup
matches in Sri Lanka.
Pakistan, champions in 1992, have
made a good start in the tournament with two comprehensive wins
against Kenya and tournament favourites Sri Lanka.
Afridi wants his team to carry on their winning run as it will
give them the much-needed confidence for the knock-out rounds. He
also knows that it is also important for them to avoid playing in
India before the final in Mumbai.
"I want to play in India, but not before the final," he said. "The
biggest reward for us if we topped our group is that we will get
to play our quarterfinals here or in Dhaka. It is good for us
either way. I want to play our quarterfinal in Sri Lanka or
Bangladesh because we are completely used to the conditions and in
neutral games we would even get the crowd support. But in India it
is going to be a different story."
Afridi, who turned 31 here Tuesday, said that in Sri Lanka and
Bangladesh, Pakistan will have the 'home advantage' as they won't
be pitted against the home team.
Afridi said his boys were working really hard to give their best
in the tournament.
"The players are training with a lot of intensity," he said. "It's
very important for us that we do well in the World Cup and win it
for our country."
Pakistan lost to India in the quarterfinal of the 1996 World Cup
which was played in a highly charged atmosphere in Bangalore.
Pakistan last toured India in 2007-08, before bilateral relations
touched an all time low after the 26/11 attack on Mumbai by
Pakistani terrorists.
Extremist groups in India have even threatened to disrupt World
Cup matches involving Pakistan.
Pakistan were slated to play all their matches at home, but after
they were stripped of their status as co-hosts, the International
Cricket Council (ICC) assigned their group matches to Sri Lanka to
avoid any possible backlash in India.
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