KARACHI: The think-tank of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has outlined plans for a comprehensive strategy to prepare a strong national squad for the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

An informal meeting in this regard was held at the Gaddafi Stadium with the PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf presiding over the discussions in which board officials and former cricketers participated.

One major task assigned to senior PCB officials, director general Javed Miandad and director of international cricket Intikhab Alam, is to contact the members of the triumphant Imran Khan-led 1992 World Cup Pakistan squad as well other former stars to seek their views and advice.

The PCB has decided to devise long term plans for the 2015 World Cup and a short term one for the forthcoming World Twenty20, scheduled to be held in Bangladesh.

The choice of picking Miandad and Intikhab is rational because they had served the Pakistan team as vice-captain and manager, respectively during the 1992 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Pakistan Test and one-day captain Misbah-ul-Haq and the national team’s Twenty20 skipper Mohammad Hafeez both will be part of the deliberations, said a PCB media release on Wednesday.

Addressing the meeting, Zaka said Pakistan would benefit from the inputs of the members of the side that clinched the coveted crown by defeating Graham Gooch’s England team by 22 runs in the final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on March 25, 1992.

“A majority of the 1992 World Cup-winning team members turned out to be high achievers. They have played some great cricket then and afterwards,” Zaka said.

“The idea is to draw from this great resource of knowledge and experience in order to raise a competitive outfit for the 2015 World Cup and boost our chances of bringing back the title to Pakistan, just like they did in 1992.”

Speaking on the occasion Miandad who was one of the stars of the 1992 campaign with 437 runs in nine matches, emphasized that the plans have to be implemented from this moment onwards to ensure the Pakistan side becomes one of the favourites for the title.

“The task [assigned] is not to merely give suggestions but to draw a blueprint to replicate the 1992 victory,” he stressed. “The purpose is to start preparing now. With just about 13 months to go for the event, we are striving to make sure Team Pakistan is ready for a shot at the title come Feb 14, 2015 when the event kicks off.”

Of the 1992 squad, Imran, now chief of his political party Tehreek-i-Insaf, retired immediately after the tournament to focus on other matters while most of the other team members such as Wasim Akram, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Aamir Sohail, Saleem Malik, Ramiz Raja, Aaqib Javed, Mushtaq Ahmed, Moin Khan and Ijaz Ahmed continued to serve Pakistan for a long time. Miandad, however, quit the game after Pakistan lost to India in the 1996 World Cup quarter-final at Bangalore.—Khalid H. Khan