Colombo, Mar 21(ANI): Pakistan's confidence level has "naturally" received a boost as they brought Australia's 34-match winning streak in the World Cup tournaments to an end on March 19, vice-captain Misbah-Ul-Haq has said.
"Confidence is naturally high after the win against Australia. It's a good feeling to be the team that ended Australia's fantastic 34-match run. Now the important thing is to build on the win against Australia and take that momentum into the quarter finals," PakPassion.net quoted Misbah, as saying.
Pakistan's four-wicket win against Australia was not without some nervous moments for the Greenshirts and their fans alike, and Misbah acknowledged that one cannot take a win against "tough competitors" Australia for granted.
"They (Australia) are such tough competitors - you can never take victory for granted against them. They are capable of grabbing victory from the jaws of defeat and it's never over against them until the winning run has been scored or the final wicket has been taken," he said.
"Naturally there were some nerves in the dressing room, but Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal and Abdul Razzaq deserve a lot of credit and praise for the way they handled the situation and saw us home. There was a lot of pressure out there and it's heartening for Pakistan to see youngsters like Asad (Shafiq) and Umar (Akmal) performing so well when it mattered. However, whilst the youngsters performed well, Abdul Razzaq's contribution and steadying influence at the end should not be underestimated. He (Razzaq) showed his experience and maturity and handled the situation very well," he added.
Pakistan's fielding display and on-field demeanour against the Aussies could be regarded as their best for quite some time, which Misbah felt was due to the team's ambition of finishing at the top of the group as well as the sheer challenge of taking on a "champion opponent" with an unbeaten run in the World Cup.
"Put simply, if we'd lost we would have finished fourth and if we'd won then obviously top place in the group was ours. We were determined to finish top of the group, rather than fourth. Conditions suited us and we were totally focused on ensuring we gave our all in every facet of the game," he said. "In addition the biggest motivating factor and driving force was that we wanted to end Australia's 34 match unbeaten run in World Cup tournaments stretching back to 1999."
Pakistan have little time to rest on their laurels after the marvellous victory over Australia, as they will take on West Indies in their quarter final campaign in Dhaka on Wednesday.
"We are just thinking about our quarter final as that is our next match. For the time being our mindset is that the quarter final is our final," said Misbah, adding, "It would be foolish to look any further than the next match. We are all really focused on the quarter final and planning for the West Indies. All of our efforts and thoughts are on the next match in Dhaka and no further than that."
With the home team out of the tournament, Pakistanis may well depend on support from local Bangladeshi fans and cricket lovers, and Misbah hopes that they will back Pakistan against West Indies.
"Bangladesh crowds have always enjoyed the entertainment that Pakistani sides have provided the locals. I'm sure they'll give us good backing against the West Indies and I'm confident that it will feel like we are playing in Pakistan. Conditions should also suit us in Bangladesh, but we won't be taking anything for granted and we'll be going all out for victory," he said. (ANI)
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