Pakistan all-rounder Muhammad Hafeez is adamant that his side has the capability to beat Bangladesh on their turf. He believes that the new players have enough firepower to excel to the higher stage of the game.
Responding to Shakib-ul-Hassan’s comment that this series is the best chance to beat Pakistan, Hafeez had some few words of his own. He said, “What Shakib said is confidenceand it’s a good thing that they have a belief in them.”
Hafeez also emphasized the importance of the new players too. “The talent of the Pakistan team cannot be underrated. These players have proved themselves in domestic cricket ciruit and the selectors have picked them for a reason. It is indeed a new era as we are definitelygoing with new players. But as a unit we will give good results and the boys are ready for the new series.”
Since 1988, Pakistan has played Bangladesh 47 times in all formats of the game and has lostonly once since then. That defeat came in the 1999 World Cup in England. Muhammad Hafeez is no way underestimating the Bangladesh side in the up-coming series. Heapplauded Bangladesh;s recent performance in the World Cup as well.
“I think it’s more than winning and losing in the World Cup, the good thing is how you showcase your cricket and Bangladesh won lots of hearts through their performance,” added Hafeez.
“Their qualification in the World Cup quarter-finals was never in doubt because they played good cricket. We are not under-estimating them as a team, as they very good in their own conditions,” he added.
In other news, Sohaib Maqsood has been ruled out from the limited over format by the recurrence of an injury in the left hand. He suffered from the same injury in UAE while playing for Pakistan A which ruled him out of the T20 and ODI formats against New Zealand last year. Saad Nasim takes his position in the ODIs. Saad Nasim has played 3 T20 internationals but is yet to make a debut in the ODI format.