Thaindian News

Gros Islet (St.Lucia), May 2 (IANS) Pakistan cricket captain Shahid Afridi has said revenge will not be on his mind when the defending champions face Australia in the World Twenty20 here Sunday.
Pakistan started their title defence with a 21-run win over Bangladesh at the Beausejour Stadium here Saturday, but the victory was far from impressive.

Afridi, however, insisted that his boys are in good form to get a win over Australia. In their last tour in the winter, Pakistan had a disastrous tour Down Under, losing all three Tests and five ODIs, following which World Twenty20-winning captain Younis Khan and top batsmen Mohammad Yousuf, were banned indefinitely.

Meanwhile, Shoaib Malik and Naved-ul-Hasan were both suspended for a year while Afridi and the Akmal brothers, Kamran and Umar, were fined and put on probation for six months each.

“Winning and losing is something different but I want my team to play good cricket. The guys here are feeling good and are very united. These guys here are my big players,” said Afridi.

Afridi hailed opener Salman Butt’s performance against Bangladesh. Butt and Kamran, who both made 73, built an opening stand of 142 that was crucial in Saturday’s win.

Butt won the Man-of-the-Match award for his 46-ball inning that featured two sixes and eight fours.

On Salman, Afridi said: “When we had our camp back home, I saw him in the practice games and he played very well. I thought maybe he was going to the West Indies with me but I don’t think he will get a chance. But when I saw him he was batting very well, especially in the first six overs, and I told Salman Butt ‘you are my main guy.’ He was playing proper shots as well. In the six overs, you don’t need two (Sanath) Jayasuriyas, two (Virender) Sehwags or two Afridis.”