Pakistan team leaves for England

LAHORE - Pakistan team coach Intikhab Alam feels the Twenty20 is an unpredictable game where even the weaker teams can gloss over their mistakes and upset stronger sides with their limited talents. A 15-member Pakistan cricket team captained by Younis Khan left for England today to take part in Twenty20 World Cup. The tournament will begin from June 5. The coach of national team Intikhab Alam said Pakistani players are in high spirits and they will return back home with good results. In Twenty20 format, none of the team declared because any team, which would deliver on a particular day, could win. He said it is unfortunate that Shoaib Akhter is not part of the team. This will be first Twenty20 World Cup of Ahmad Shahzad, Rao Iftikhar, Shahzeb Hasan, Muhammad Aamir and Saeed Ajmal. Pakistan, runner up of first Twenty20 World Cup, would play first warm up match against South Africa on June 1and second warm up against India on June 3. Pakistan will meet England in its World Cup opener on June 7 and second match against Holland on June 9. "It is a 120 balls innings and any team can cause an upset. In the longer version of the game eventually weaker teams are found wanting but in T20 cricket they can escape and do well even with limited talent and exposure," Alam said. "I am backing my team to do well in the World Cup because we have players with plenty of T20 experience and we have developed blend in our batting," Intikhab said. "The competition will be tough and our first aim is to qualify from our group which is not an easy one," he said. Intikhab said the players had done all the preparations they could possibly do for the tournament and worked hard in the training sessions. "The sessions with the sports psychologist have helped and that is why I am quietly confident we can give good results even in English conditions," he said. Pakistan had lost the final of the inaugural World Cup in 2007 to arch rivals India after a memorable match and the coach said the players were keen to make amends. "The sports psychologist has impressed upon the boys that cricket is a team game and everyone has to play for each other to do well and we are trying to do that," he said. Intikhab brushed aside concerns that Pakistani players would struggle in English conditions and should have gone to England earlier for acclimatisation like other teams have done. "Look we are all professional players and expected to adapt to all conditions. "Our players have ample experience of playing there and we also have to warm up matches to find some momentum in English conditions so I am not unduly worried," he said. The former Test captain said Pakistan would look to post a total of around 170 and 180 and with their bowling in English conditions they could defend it.

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