ABU DHABI: Veteran allrounder Shoaib Malik said on Monday Pakistan’s morale was “high” from last month’s win over India ahead of this week’s Twenty20 World Cup match against Namibia in Abu Dhabi.
Pakistan have raced to three wins in as many games starting with a resounding ten-wicket opening fixture victory over arch-rivals India followed by New Zealand and Afghanistan.
They need another win to qualify for the semifinals from Group 2 of the Super 12 stage.
“The morale in the camp is high,” said 39-year-old Malik before Tuesday’s meeting.
“When you win games, the confidence level is quite high in the dressing room. Everyone is looking forward to playing the rest of the games we have left in the tournament.
“When you start your tournament against a big team (India) and then you win that game, then everything comes in your dressing room.”
Malik, whose tennis star wife Sania Mirza is from India, refused to comment on their arch-rival’s abysmal show in the event, saying “we are focused on our own performance and not looking around.”
Malik praised the intensity in the set-up.
“Obviously when you start the tournament, the goal is to give your best shot as a team,” he said.
“But since I’ve joined the team, I’ve seen Pakistan teams practice sessions and the way they have been dealing with pressure from the world until now, it’s been exceptionally well,” he added.
Pakistan have never played a Twenty20 international against Namibia while they won the only ODI between the two sides in the 2003 World Cup (50 overs) with a 171-run margin in South Africa.
But Malik said Namibia, who qualified from the first round and have beaten Scotland, will not be taken lightly.
“To be honest, we are not thinking any different because T20 format is where you can’t take the opposition lightly,” he said.
“And we are fully confident, so we are looking forward for the game.”
Pakistan have played the same eleven in all three games but considering a relatively easier opponent, ranked 15th in the world in the format, they could rotate their side.
Malik admitted bio-secure confinement for the players in the Covid-19 restriction is a challenge.
“Bubble life, it’s a tough thing, especially when you’re like playing a lot of back-to-back series,” he said.
“And being in a bubble, it’s not an easy thing to go through. But the good thing is that our families are with us. We’ve been spending a lot of time together as families, as teammates. So it’s a good thing.
“But when your goal is to achieve something in life, then you have to go through hard yards, and we have that in our mind. And we are only focused for this particular tournament. And some have started enjoying the bubble life as well.”
Pakistan’s morale 'high' before match against Namibia in Abu Dhabi — Shoaib Malik
https://arab.news/6w7v6
Pakistan’s morale 'high' before match against Namibia in Abu Dhabi — Shoaib Malik
- Pakistan have raced to three wins in as many games at T20 World Cup
- Scored victories against arch-rival India followed by New Zealand and Afghanistan
Pakistan says ‘national security is non-negotiable’ after Afghanistan strikes
- Islamabad says recent cross-border strikes targeted Afghanistan-based militants behind recent attacks
- Kabul has condemned strikes, accused Pakistan of violating territorial sovereignty and killing civilians
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Parliamentary Secretary for Information and Broadcasting Danyal Chaudhry said on Monday “national security is non-negotiable,” defending Islamabad’s recent cross-border strikes inside Afghanistan following a number of recent militant attacks.
The remarks come after Pakistan said it launched “intelligence-based selective targeting” of seven militant camps along the Afghan border in response to a mosque bombing in Islamabad and violence in the northwestern border districts of Bajaur and Bannu, among other attacks. Authorities say many of the assaults have been carried out by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and allied groups that Islamabad alleges are operating from sanctuaries in Afghanistan, whose government denies this.
Kabul has condemned Sunday’s strikes as a violation of its sovereignty and claimed civilians were killed. Pakistan has not responded to that allegation.
Tensions between the two neighbors have escalated sharply despite a fragile ceasefire agreed after deadly clashes in October.
“Pakistan has always chosen the path of dialogue and peaceful coexistence. But when Afghan soil continues to be used for proxy attacks, we have no choice but to defend our homeland. National security is non-negotiable,” Chaudhry said in a statement.
He said the recent operation had “successfully neutralized militants involved in attacks on Pakistani soil,” adding that “every precaution was taken to protect innocent lives.”
Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers of allowing TTP militants and fighters linked to the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), the regional affiliate of the Daesh group, to operate from Afghan territory, claims Kabul denies.
Chaudhry referred to a recent United Nations report, saying militants from 21 countries were now operating from Afghan territory and posed a threat to regional stability.
Afghanistan’s defense ministry earlier condemned what it called a breach of international law and vowed a “measured response at a suitable time.” Its foreign ministry summoned Pakistan’s ambassador over what it described as violations of Afghan airspace.
Islamabad has also accused neighboring India of backing anti-Pakistan militant groups, a charge New Delhi has consistently denied.
The latest exchange has raised concerns of renewed instability along the 2,600-kilometer frontier, where repeated border closures have disrupted trade and strained diplomatic ties. Analysts say the escalation risks undoing recent efforts at de-escalation, including the Saudi-mediated release of three Pakistani soldiers earlier this month.
