KARACHI, Jan 28: Pakistan coach Hanif Khan Monday said victory in Kuala Lumpur has provided perfect tonic to the morale and confidence of the team ahead of next month’s World Cup.

“It has lifted the spirits of the team. The shattered confidence has been restored and the boys now trust their abilities,” Hanif told reporters Monday.

The team returned Sunday and now assembles at Lahore where the final phase of preparations begin Jan 31.

Nevertheless, despite being full of praise for the players, Hanif was cautious and refrained from making predictions.

“I don’t want to make tall claims. But in current form and with the players peaking at the right time, I have no hesitation in saying that we would reach the semifinals,” he said.

Pakistan has a tough draw and are placed with giants Germany, Australia, New Zealand and Spain besides four other teams.

Hanif also displayed impressions that it was a warmup event for the World Cup and not a ranking competition.

“All the big names except Germany participated in the tournament and in full strength. I don’t buy the theory that it was an insignificant competition.

“It has been a long wait for Pakistan and I don’t think it could have come at a better time. The approach of the players will now be very different and I am sure they will rise to the occasion,” he said.

Hanif said Pakistan tried a new combination in Kuala Lumpur which successfully helped the team to plug the gaps in the field.

“We had problems in the centre which was being capitalized by the Europeans who either used to score or earn penalty corners. But in Kuala Lumpur, we played with two centre halves and four forwards.

“That gap was plugged by increasing a centre half which also had no bearing on the forward line as we scored 25 goals against eight,” he said.

He argued that Kashif Jawwad did bulk of the scoring because he was playing with seasoned and experienced wingers. “If the forward has good wingers, he would score like Kashif did in the tournament.”

He said Shahbaz Ahmad has emerged as a different players as compared to what he was a few years back.

“Before his retirement, he used to play at his own pace because then he had the speed to support his artistry. Now he has emerged as a schemer and playmaker.”

Hanif said Shahbaz was fully fit and had the stamina to play the entire 70 minutes. However, he said Pakistan took advantage of the rolling substitution law and played Shahbaz for 50 minutes in each match.

Hanif also defended the lacklustre performance of Sohail Abbas, Pakistan’s penalty corner executioner and a goal scoring machine.

“The new-laid turf was slippery and the ball was also bouncing on it. I think besides winning the tournament, the most educative part of the tour was that the players got a feel of the conditions and know how they have to cope with them when they play there in the World Cup,” he said.

Hanif defended the exclusion of Mohammad Qasim from the final but admitted that it was a gamble that paid off.

“In the league match against Australia, Qasim was leaving the goal-post too often. It could have been because he was either overconfident or lacking in confidence. I decided to give him time to regroup himself and opted to play Salman Akbar who I think did a good job.”