ISLAMABAD, April 11: Pakistan’s limited-overs captain Shahid Afridi has vowed that his team will show better performance on the West Indies tour, stressing the players are playing cricket with confidence.

Speaking in an interview on a private TV channel, Afridi admitted the mistakes he and his team members committed in the World Cup semi-final.

Thanking the whole nation for encouraging and supporting his team during the World Cup, Afridi said: “We will try to improve our performance [in the West Indies].”

To a question, the all-rounder said Junaid Khan would be a match-winning bowler in future, adding that Umar Gul, Umar Akmal, Wahab Riaz and Asad Shafiq were very good players.

Noting Imran Khan, as captain, had the support of all main players of his era, Afridi said similar was the situation with him in the current squad. “I also enjoy support of the key players,” he remarked.

Javed Miandad was asked to serve the national team as batting coach but he refused, Afridi said, adding that batting coach could also be hired from abroad. The skipper, however, emphasised that Pakistan itself also had a lot of talent in the coaching field.

Noting 80 per cent of modern cricket depends on fielding, Afridi underlined a team with better fielding performance could change the result of a match in today’s cricket.

Answering a question on Pakistan team’s poor fielding, the captain said Pakistan’s fielding had always remained poor but added that his boys fielded well in the 2011 World Cup except for the semi-final.

To another question, Afridi said he had no plan to return to Test cricket.

The flamboyant all-rounder, who secured 21 wickets in the recently concluded World Cup, said he would concentrate on getting some runs on the West Indies tour. “I’ll really work hard to improve my batting,” he said.

Highlighting the recent improvements in his team, Afridi said Pakistan could emulate Australia — who ruled the cricket world for around 15 years — with proper planning and hard work.

“Our team has improved a lot recently and our performance in the World Cup was commendable because we played in the mega event under pressure due to a series of setbacks prior to the tournament,” he stated. “Before the beginning of the World Cup many people had no idea that Pakistan team would exhibit such performance [reaching the semi-finals].”

To a query about young wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed, the captain said no doubt he was a good wicket-keeper but added that he would have to improve in batting department also.

To a question about left-arm paceman Mohammad Aamir — currently banned by the ICC for spot-fixing, Afridi hoped the talented fast bowler would return to play for Pakistan again.—Agencies