JOHANNESBURG, Jan 29: Pakistan have put behind them the misery of 1999 when they were drubbed by eight wickets by Australia in the final, team manager Shaharyar Khan said on Wednesday.

“There is no ghost — in fact to get to the final (at Lord’s) was a huge achievement for us. There is no ghost of the past, we only look forward to the future and to play at the optimum level,” Shaharyar said in Johannesburg where the team have been in practice camp since Saturday.

And although Shaharyar saw teams like Australia and South Africa as the possible dangers to the Pakistani’s bid to lift the trophy for the second time, he concurred with other team managers and captains that anything could happen.

“In a World Cup you never know, anything can happen. But we know we have a good chance of lifting this cup,” he said.

He sounded a special warning to the South Africans as well as Pakistan’s traditional number one opponents on the field, India.

“No side has ever won the World Cup at home,” was Shaharyar’s warning to South Africa while to India, he said his team will be playing “especially hard.”

“We are the first to arrive and hopefully the last to leave,” Shaharyar said to applause from the Pakistani players.—AFP