Misbah admits the road to quarters is really tough

Napier, March 3

Pakistan’s unconvincing victory against Zimbabwe on Sunday might have revived their stuttering World Cup campaign but skipper Misbah-ul-Haq warned his team any more slip-ups could lead to an ignominious exit.

Thumped by India and West Indies, Pakistan laboured to a 20-run victory against Zimbabwe at Brisbane in the first of their three matches in a week and Misbah admitted the crammed schedule posed a new challenge to the team. “(It’s) going to be really tough for us. That’s how it is,” Misbah said on the eve of the Pool B match against United Arab Emirates at Napier on Wednesday. “We’re just having a lot of days off before that, seven, eight, nine days in between the games...and we have to travel in every game.” From Napier, Pakistan will head north to Auckland for Saturday’s match against South Africa.

“That could be really challenging for us, but we have a job in our hand so we have to do it.” Fans have urged the team to draw inspiration from Pakistan’s 1992 campaign when Imran Khan’s team overcame a poor start to eventually win their first and only 50-over World Cup.

“Obviously (we’ll) take some motivation from that situation, but what is important for us now — we just have to play well, and that’s the simple scenario for us,” Misbah said. “I mean, we have to do it. We have to if we want to go into the next round. — Reuters

Pak team member blames chaotic schedule

Pakistan’s World Cup campaign has been significantly affected due to its disorganised schedule set by the ICC, causing Misbah-ul-Haq’s side to under perform in the ongoing tournament, claims a team member. According to the Express Tribune, a team member has claimed that Pakistan’s schedule was the toughest handed out to any participating team in the World Cup, adding that they have had to travel between Australia and New Zealand after almost every match.

‘Chapter closed’ in casino controversy

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shahryar Khan has put an end to the Moin Khan’s casino controversy, calling the chapter as ‘closed’ following the chief selector’s apology over the issue. Earlier, PCB had recalled its chief selector Moin Khan after he allegedly visited a casino in Christchurch. Reflecting on the matter, Shahryar said that Moin realised that it was inappropriate to have visited a casino ahead of Pakistan’s match, adding that Moin reiterated that he only had dinner over there and nothing else. — ANI

Pakistan vs UAE

Head to head 

Total: 2; Both times Pakistan has won by nine wickets

Form (last 5 matches) 

Pakistan: WLLLL 

UAE: LLLWL 

Time: 6.30 am STAR SPORTS