LAHORE: Having made it to Pakistan’s World Cup squad after an injury to all-rounded Mohammad Hafeez, opener Nasir Jamshed vowed to deliver under pressure at the quadrennial spectacle.

Speaking to reporters on Monday alongside another late call-up Rahat Ali before their departure to Australia to join the Pakistan team, Nasir termed his selection as a “fulfilment of a dream”.

“I got an opportunity to play at the World Cup and it’s a chance for me to deliver,” the left-hander, who has played 45 ODIs scoring 1,413 runs at an average of 33.64, said after being named to replace Hafeez on Sunday.

The 25-year-old Nasir scored two of his three ODI centuries against India, in back to back matches at Chennai and Kolkata in 2012-13, and said he wouldn’t be bogged down by pressure if he were to be selected for Pakistan’s World Cup opener against their arch-rivals on Feb 15.

“As a professional cricketer you have to perform whether the match is against India, Australia or South Africa,” he said. “I have a good record against India and I’d like to continue scoring against them in the same vein. Hopefully my runs would be pivotal in Pakistan’s success.”

Nasir comes into the World Cup despite unsatisfactory performances in the recent President’s Gold League One-day Cup where he scored just 195 runs for National Bank of Pakistan in seven games, averaging 27.86 with the bat.

Earlier he had excelled in the Pentangular One-day Cup with 282 runs in four matches, thanks to a career-best score of 158 which saw him end the tournament at an average of 70.50.

The Pentangular Cup signalled a return to form for Nasir after he’d struggled in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy where he collected 131 runs from five matches. “My return to the national team can be attributed to my performances at the Pentangular Cup,” he said.

And Nasir hopes he can provide Pakistan with the platform to post a formidable total at the World Cup. “I will try to provide Pakistan the start alongside [fellow opener] Ahmed Shehzad which would help the team post a good total,” he said.

Asked if he would be a liability on the team due to his weak fielding, Nasir said: “I’ve claimed a number of catches during my career. In ODIs, a fielder usually gets the ball some 15 to 20 times so one fielder can’t make a big impact.”

Meanwhile, Rahat — who replaced injured pace spearhead Junaid Khan — said that although he had played more Tests (11) than ODIs (1), he was backing himself to perform in the shorter version of the game.

“I was expecting a call-up to the team when Junaid got injured,” Rahat said. “I have played international cricket and this isn’t the first occasion for me. I will focus on delivering the goods and hopefully earning a name in this format as well.”

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2015

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