Islamabad: Pakistan Under-19 coach Sabih Azhar has said they have high hopes of winning the Under-19 World Cup in Australia, which would take place in August after jointly winning the Under-19 Asia cup along with India.
Azhar believes his team’s consistent performances in the Asia Cup would give them confidence ahead of the World Cup.
Azhar made no secret of the fact that whilst it may have been their main aim to beat the traditional rivals India, just the experience of playing under pressure would stand his charges in good stead in the near and long term.
“We won the first game by one run but in the second game we came back from a near impossible position to tie the match. This is huge credit to the boys and it’s really good that we got to play some high-pressure matches before the Under 19 World Cup. The overall experience was great as it was great to see the players handle the pressure so well,” Azhar said during an interview with a website.
Azhar said there are certain areas where the team still needed to work hard, but still remained positive about Pakistan’s chance of winning the World Cup.
“Although our bowling was generally very impressive, there are some aspects that we need to work on. I am concerned about the issue with number of extras, including wides, conceded by our bowlers,” Azhar said.
“However, we have to understand that these are young guys and they were put under a lot of pressure in the final so it is understandable yet, this needs work in preparation for World Cup. I will say that if the performance in Asia cup is any indication of things to come then we have high hopes of winning the World Cup in August,” he added.
ANI
First Published: Wednesday, July 04, 2012, 17:26