NOTTINGHAM, United Kingdom, May 30 (AFP): Pakistan will seek inspiration from their dramatic Champions Trophy win in England two years ago when they take the field in their opening World Cup match against a resurgent West Indies on Friday.
Pakistan have lost their past ten one-day internationals including a 5-0 whitewash by Australia and 4-0 thumping by England, and their problems were further compounded when they went down to outsiders Afghanistan by three wickets in a warm-up match.
But skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed hopes his side will draw inspiration from when they were in a similar position in 2017.
"We will seek inspiration from our Champions Trophy win because then also we were losing and then lifted ourselves at the right time to win the trophy," Sarfaraz told the news agency ahead of the game in Nottingham.
But Pakistan then beat South Africa, Sri Lanka and England on their way to the final, where they thumped India by 180 runs.
Pakistan have only won three times in 10 World Cup matches against the two-time world champions, including a thumping 150-run loss at Christchurch in 2015.
West Indies are also returning to form after sneaking their way into the World Cup through a qualifying round in Zimbabwe last year.
They squared a one-day series against top-ranked side and pre-tournament favourites England 2-2 at home earlier this year before losing the final of a tri-series to Bangladesh in Ireland.
That prompted all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite to say his team can break the 500-barrier.
"If you are asking me if we are capable of it, definitely we are," Brathwaite said. "However, in a real game you probably won't have the depth in batting at 10 and 11 that we had today. So you need to be a little real about the target."
Squads: Pakistan (possible): Imam ul Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Muhammad Hafeez, Sarfraz Ahmed, Asif Ali, Haris Sohail, Hasan Ali, Wahab Riaz, Shadab Khan, Imad Waseem and Muhammad Aamir.
West Indies (possible): 1 Chris Gayle 2 Evin Lewis 3 Shai Hope (wk) 4 Shimron Hetmyer 5 Darren Bravo 6 Jason Holder (capt) 7 Andre Russell 8 Ashley Nurse 9 Kemar Roach 10 Sheldon Cottrell 11 Oshane Thomas/Shannon Gabriel
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
