06-18-2009, 10:40 AM
Nottingham: Ahead of Thursday’s first semifinal of the ICC World Twenty20 here, the mind games are on. Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam said, “they are a strong, professional side but history tells us that South Africa does not win the big events. They play well but fail at the crunch. The pressure will be on them to defy that, not on us.”
He added a score over 150 could be a match-winning one at Trent Bridge. “You see the pitches have been different in the competition. Here, if a side puts up around 150 on the board, it is a potentially match-winning score.”
Intikhab gave Pakistan captain Younis Khan the credit for the side’s revival. “I have a lot of time for Younis. Deep down, he is a very serious cricketer.”
Once again denying accusations of ball tampering, he said, “all this is absolute rubbish.”
He said the return of Abdul Razzaq had given the side a lot more balance.
Intikhab said Pakistan’s journey in the competition reminded him of the side’s triumph in the 1992 World Cup. “There we had injury problems early on, we lost early, but came back from nowhere to win.” — Special Correspondent
He added a score over 150 could be a match-winning one at Trent Bridge. “You see the pitches have been different in the competition. Here, if a side puts up around 150 on the board, it is a potentially match-winning score.”
Intikhab gave Pakistan captain Younis Khan the credit for the side’s revival. “I have a lot of time for Younis. Deep down, he is a very serious cricketer.”
Once again denying accusations of ball tampering, he said, “all this is absolute rubbish.”
He said the return of Abdul Razzaq had given the side a lot more balance.
Intikhab said Pakistan’s journey in the competition reminded him of the side’s triumph in the 1992 World Cup. “There we had injury problems early on, we lost early, but came back from nowhere to win.” — Special Correspondent