Pakistan hoping for change of fortunes

Published September 21, 2002

COLOMBO, Sept 20: Pakistan captain Waqar Younis hopes Saturday’s Champions Trophy match with the Netherlands could be a much-needed turning point in his side’s fortunes.

Pakistan are already out of the tournament after losing to Sri Lanka on Sept 12 and they are also without a coach after Mudassar Nazar was sacked on Tuesday following a run of just three wins from their last 10 matches.

Waqar believes that out of adversity his players can rise again, starting with game against the Dutch.

“We’ve only got 12 to pick from so it is the turn of the youngsters,” Waqar told Reuters on Friday.

“They have got the opportunity now and we won’t be taking it easy. We’ll give it the best we’ve got to get back on to the winning streak and this might be the turning point for us.”

Waqar is convinced Pakistan’s current poor form is just a temporary blip on the graph rather than a terminal decline.

“I take it as a bad patch,” he said. “I’ve had lots of bad patches in my bowling career so it’s one of those patches that you go through. You can’t win all the games and fair enough we’ve lost too many.

Teams:

PAKISTAN (from): Waqar Younis (captain), Abdul Razzak, Imran Nazir, Misbah ul Haq, Mohammad Sami, Rashid Latif, Saeed Anwar, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar, Shoaib Malik, Wasim Akram, Younis Khan. 12th man to be confirmed.

NETHERLANDS: Roland Lefebvre (captain), Daan van Bunge, Victor Grandia, Feiko Kloppenburg, Tim de Leede, Henk-Jan Mol, Adeel Raja, Edgar Schiferli, Reinout Scholte, Luuk van Troost, Bas Zuiderent. 12th man to be confirmed.—Reuters

Opinion

Editorial

Doctor attacked
09 Jun, 2026

Doctor attacked

AN act of reprehensible violence has shaken the medical community. On Saturday, an employee of the Provincial Civil...
AJK flare-up
09 Jun, 2026

AJK flare-up

MATTERS have worsened in the stand-off between the Azad Kashmir government and the Joint Awami Action Committee,...
Fault lines
09 Jun, 2026

Fault lines

THE April 8 ceasefire that halted hostilities between Israel and Iran has encountered its most serious test yet....
Soft on traders
08 Jun, 2026

Soft on traders

THE Fixed Tax Asaan Scheme for traders with an annual turnover of up to Rs200m has been designed as a ‘pragmatic...
Ceasefire in name
Updated 08 Jun, 2026

Ceasefire in name

Both sides accuse the other of violating the truce that was supposed to halt the conflict in April, yet neither appears willing to abandon negotiations altogether.
Damaged childhoods
08 Jun, 2026

Damaged childhoods

CHILD abuse is so prevalent that the UN ranked Pakistan as the least safe country for children. Even so, more than...