Pakistan captain Younis Khan today said his team will play aggressively against Australia in the upcoming one-day series in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and the matches would be the start of their preparation for 2011 World Cup.
Pakistan captain Younis Khan today said his team will play aggressively against Australia in the upcoming one-day series in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and the matches would be the start of their preparation for 2011 World Cup.
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"We need to start playing with a positive and aggressive mindset and develop and retain that mindset for the World Cup. I see the Australia series as the start of our process to build a strong one-day outfit. Even if we lose we would have gained a lot by playing a tough series," he said.
The Pakistan captain said he would focus on having a right team combination to be in strong position to claim the World Cup, which they last lifted under Imran Khan's leadership in 1992.
"Winning the series is important but more important is that I see this series as the launch of our preparations for the 2011 World Cup. "The basic purpose is to start building up a combination and team for one-day internationals that can give 100 per cent in the next World Cup and be in a strong position to win it," Younis said.
Pakistan is playing its series against Australia in Abu Dhabi and Dubai from April 22 after the Australians refused to tour Pakistan because of security concerns.
Since last year Pakistan has seen several bilateral series and the Champions Trophy at home either postponed, cancelled or relocated due to security issues. The PCB says it suffered great financial losses due to the cancellation of Test tours by Australia and India last year.
Younis said that Pakistan should do well in the coming five one-day internationals and Twenty20 game as the conditions in Abu Dhabi and Dubai were similar to that of Pakistan.
"The pitches are also being prepared with soil from Pakistan," he pointed out. "If we play positively and aggressively I am confident we can beat them. We have a good team but we need to remain confident of ourselves and stick to our plans. If we achieve 75 per cent of what we plan we can produce good results from the series," Younis said.
Younis said the series was also important since it was the first for Pakistan since the attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore. "That incident shook our cricket set-up and our fans and that is why this series assumes so much importance. It is also important for Pakistan cricket to keep on pushing forward despite all the problems we are facing at the moment."
Younis said he would welcome any player of the Indian Cricket League if the Cricket Board cleared the ICL players for national selection. "Definitely some of them can comeback to the national team. They went to the ICL but they are our players and we need them if they are available," he said.
Younis also made it clear he had set down certain parametres for the players wishing to play for the national team as far as fitness standards were concerned.
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