Imran asks Afridi to prepare for knockout matches in India
By CricketCountry Staff
Islamabad: Mar 9, 2011
Former Pakistan World Cup winning captain Imran Khan has asked the World Cup team captain Shahid Afridi to be ready to play its knockout stage matches in India.
Imran said that players should not be publicly expressing their preferences. “I don’t agree that we should be voicing our views publicly on what our preferences are as far as playing the quarterfinals and semifinals are concerned,” Imran told local sports channel Geo Super.
It may be mentioned here that Afridi had recently said that his team would try to win all their matches in Group A and finish at the top of the table in order to avoid playing the quarterfinals in India. He added that his team would prefer to play their knockout games in either Sri Lanka or Bangladesh.
Imran feels that if Pakistan are to face arch-rivals India in the quarterfinals or in the semifinals, Pakistan would enjoy more advantage than their opposition. “Remember India would be under greater pressure playing Pakistan any knockout match at home. They know well the expectations of their people when they normally play Pakistan and this is the World Cup,” said Imran.
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