Pakistan will reach quarter-finals, says Yousuf
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KARACHI: Despite Pakistan’s indifferent form, former skipper Mohammad Yousuf believes the national team will reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
Speaking in the wake of Pool ‘B’ rivals Ireland’s 201-run hammering by South Africa on Tuesday, a day before Pakistan face the UAE in a crucial match, the batting legend said things were coming together for Misbah-ul-Haq’s men.
Having opened their campaign with back-to-back losses against arch-rivals India and the mercurial West Indies, Pakistan kept alive their World Cup hopes with victory against Zimbabwe on Sunday.
Following the game against the UAE, they play South Africa on Saturday before clashing with Ireland in their final Pool ‘B’ fixture on March 15.
“I believe Pakistan will make it to the last eight of the showpiece,” Yousuf said in an interview here, predicting Pakistan will play New Zealand in the quarter-final in Wellington on March 21. “Ireland’s huge loss [to the Proteas] will help Pakistan in catching them up on net run-rate if it comes down to that in the end.”
A member of Pakistan’s 2007 World Cup squad which lost to Ireland on its way to an ignominious group-stage exit, Yousuf believes Pakistan will come good if they were to play the Irish with their quarter-final hopes on the line.
“With the match being held at the Adelaide Oval, which is good for batting, I don’t see Pakistan being troubled by Ireland,” he said.
“We lost to Ireland in 2007 because of the track and the rain at Jamaica’s Sabina Park. The ball was swinging and our batting went down,” he recalled.
Yousuf said he was baffled at wicket-keeper/batsman Sarfraz Ahmed being excluded from the Playing XI. “Dropping him is bewildering as he is currently the most courageous batsman we have in the team,” he said.
The former right-handed batsman also hoped Pakistan’s batting will click following a series of struggles at the World Cup.
“We’ve got good batsmen,” he said. “But they need to take responsibility and fire the team to bigger totals.”
Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2015
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Comments (43) Closed
Mar 04, 2015 09:31am
Sure they will as brother UAE will help you. What is point of bowling first after winning toss when everyone knows Pakistan is a poor chaser???? Plan is to loose match by more than 150 runs. ICC must investigate.
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Mar 04, 2015 09:56am
@ROHIT
Something is burning!
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Mar 04, 2015 09:57am
when uae choose fielding instead of batting after winning the toss ,then everybody understood that there is a deal between pak and uae .in uae team 9 players are of pak origin and coach is of pak origin.no need to say any further.
whole world will know what pakistan teams strength is, when they take on south africa and ireland.
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Mar 04, 2015 10:00am
Rohit, are you having a laugh?
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Mar 04, 2015 10:01am
Silence !!!
Peer Sahib has spoken !!!
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Mar 04, 2015 10:02am
@ROHIT ICC must also investigate India's match against South Africa as well. The way A B de villiers ran himself out in that match clearly shows that there was something fishy.
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Mar 04, 2015 10:06am
They will not without the likes of you Yousuf bhai.
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Mar 04, 2015 10:59am
What IF India losses match against IRELAND ??? Why would they like Pakistan to be in Quarter Finals?
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Mar 04, 2015 11:31am
There is something fishy here....UAE's decision to bowl first after winning the toss defies all logic.....ICC should step in here.
UAE's players of Pak origin are definitely helping Pak by dropping catches and giving away 5 wides, 5 No-Balls.
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Mar 04, 2015 11:51am
@Rohit No need to panic Rohit. No matter what UAE does the Big 3 is looking out for you!
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Mar 04, 2015 12:28pm
Is that an accomplishment with group setup that favours top 8 test playing countries. Real test is to reach semis which the peer sahib won't predict.
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Mar 04, 2015 12:35pm
With this awesome performance against UAE, Pak team can crush South Africa and Australia...
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Mar 04, 2015 12:36pm
@Rohit there should be an Indian bookie involved as usual. do you think so? once Indian money involvement ends cricket will be fine.
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Mar 04, 2015 01:12pm
Hard to say who is a sports person and who is a cleric!
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Mar 04, 2015 01:37pm
Even now NewZealand is average team. The reason behind it's success is the afraid feeling by their opponent(guest team.
May, I remind you that PAK is the team which can surprise any cricket group on his day. I'm hopeful that Pak will beat PROTEAS followed by IRSISH & KIWIS.
But Pak should play SARFRAZ AHMAD in place of NASIR JAMSHED.
Now JUNAID KHAN is 100% fit to ball all 10overs. So call him alongwith Umar Gul if there seems any injury in 15member squad.
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Mar 04, 2015 01:52pm
@Rohit lost by less than 150, now don't come anywhere near Pakistani newspapers.
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Mar 04, 2015 02:06pm
Yes bearded horsemen will come flying green flags and will win us the match.
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Mar 04, 2015 02:48pm
"Pakistan will reach quarter-finals, says Yousuf":
hahahahahahahahahahaha, funny headline. sounds heavenly.
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Mar 04, 2015 02:48pm
@Begum Mumtaz you think everyone on this planet and in cricket is like you guys...........look what have you done to Australian and Newzealand pitches.. tailor made for you as there are no bowlers to support your good batsmen and yes of course the Aussies and other teams are afraid of being excluded from IPL
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Mar 04, 2015 02:52pm
ICC or (BCCI same thing) should also investigate as to why team india kept losing all of their pre world cup matches and then all of a sudden WC started and they started to win comprehensively. Same team, same bowlers and same conditions. Ironic?
No wonder IPL is churning money.
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Mar 04, 2015 03:35pm
@sunill punditt , why exactly UAE batted first against India when we all know they are good chasers. Something fishy there too. :p
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Mar 04, 2015 03:46pm
@Waseem Sarwar Jab banane the sirf 102 to 400 runs ka fielding kyon karen! That was the reason for UAE batting first against India
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Mar 04, 2015 03:56pm
Well, no need for any conspiracy theories...the format is such that all Test playing nations are destined to reach the quarters. WI loss to Ireland led to this dilemma for Pakistan. anyway India holds the key, if India losses to Ireland (which should not happen) then Pakistan might be out but Pakistan need to defeat SA to confirm their quarter final birth...
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Mar 04, 2015 03:57pm
@Rohit
UAE was all out against India when batting first for less than 120.
That was the main reason for opting to field.
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Mar 04, 2015 03:59pm
So that is the goal for team Pakistan. Reach quarters and then exit? Other teams are talking about reaching the final and winning while Pakistan is happy to just reach the quarters. How pathetic.
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Mar 04, 2015 05:10pm
So if Pakistan win the toss and choose to bowl (against the Weat Indies) then that is fine, but if UAE do that it must be a conspiracy? Who's the conspiracy theorist now?
Why would anyone be surprised here? This is not an unexpected win. If this had happened against one of the strong teams (e.g. SA, India etc.) there may be some question. But a victory by a margin against a really weak team is not a great surprise.
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Mar 04, 2015 05:34pm
Everybody reaches Quarterfinals...Thanks to ICC..
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Mar 04, 2015 05:35pm
@sunill punditt What if Team-India looses against Ireland?
@Rohit: What do you make up with that?
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Mar 04, 2015 05:37pm
@?Heck Why do you need to judge anyone from his/her appearance?
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Mar 04, 2015 07:42pm
@Rohit you have plenty of free time on your hand by starting a controversy theory. It is OK. it is not your fault. It is just the way you were brought up. Some one people will always be negative.
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Mar 04, 2015 07:59pm
seems 2015 WC is happening in India! Seems the pitches have been imported from Mohali !!...
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Mar 04, 2015 08:49pm
@citizen Ha......haaaaa poooooooooooo
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Mar 04, 2015 09:03pm
I certainly have NO doubt
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Mar 04, 2015 09:07pm
@Rohit Why did Afghanistan bowl first after winning the toss? That is enough for people like you..
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Mar 04, 2015 09:24pm
It is very simple, India wants to have a good image in the world community so that they can go to US and beg for more businesses to come to India and invest in their country. So far it is working. All those Indian companies send their employees to work for pennies for a dollar but the people who are really benefiting from it are the likes of TATA group, Ambani and Azeem Premji. Sure, there is some middle class growth in India but they are still way behind the life style that Karachi and Pakistan once used to have. So Indian Fans, just getting emotional will not help you personally. You would still have to face the traffic jam and greedy bosses in India on everyday basis.
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Mar 04, 2015 09:53pm
@nurali we are afraid of the 7th win.....
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Mar 04, 2015 10:37pm
LOL
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Mar 04, 2015 10:58pm
@Asad yes but on your side
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Mar 05, 2015 05:25am
The holy man has spoken. Who can argue with this?
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Mar 05, 2015 08:28am
Whats with the indian hatred on here. Indians are a very strong team and the Pakistani team is not even close. Just because they are the same religion doesn't mean that they would throw away the match. Clearly Pakistan batsmen struggled a lot initially against UAE and then got their confidence.
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Mar 05, 2015 09:21am
UAE arranged a victory for Pakistan. UAE is not going to reach q finals in any case. Nine players and coach are of Pakistani origin, so deal was done.
Even in 2011, Pakistan managed to reach semis because they played matches on under prepared pitches in Sri Lanka. The moment they were exposed to India on a genuine cricketing pitch, they were blown away. As usual after every loss, conspiracy theories were fabricated for consolation and same people were backing same players in next matches !!!! Isn't it funny.
How miserable Pakistan was in Champions trophy in England ????
You need more proofs of mediocrity of your team ?
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Mar 07, 2015 01:50am
@Moshim Khan Gorwal The team management should take up the case of semi-fit Irfan and call up Junaid to strengthen the tiring pace battery. Let's see if good sense prevails with the persons that matter here.
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Mar 07, 2015 01:52am
@B Venkatesh Wrong decisions are only seen after the match is over.
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