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Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq declared on Saturday that his team is slowly getting in shape to challenge the authority of defending champions Australia in the 2007 World Cup in March.

“Australia are no doubt the favourite team but that doesn’t mean no one can beat them. We are doing well at the moment and would give our best to do better than them in the World Cup,” Inzamam said after Pakistan thrashed the West Indies by seven wickets in the fifth and final one-dayer at the National Stadium to win the five-match series 3-1.

Pakistan went into the series after a spate of unimpressive results in England and in the ICC Champions Trophy in India but did well to beat Brian Lara’s men who reached the Champions Trophy final last month. “Such results always boost your confidence and I am happy that we have won this series in such a convincing manner ahead of the World Cup,” said Inzamam.

The experienced batsman said that his team needed positive results after suffering embarrassing losses in the Champions Trophy at the hands of New Zealand and South Africa.

“I must say that the boys have worked hard for this series win. The way my bowlers delivered on unfriendly wickets was very encouraging and I hope they would do well in away assignments as well,” he said.

Pakistan would embark on a tour of South Africa early January to warm-up for the World Cup where they would meet the West Indies in the tournament opener on March 13 in Jamaica.

Many believe Pakistan have attained a psychological edge over the West Indians ahead of that important game by beating them 3-1 in the series but Inzamam did not wholly agree.

“It is good that we have won these matches but I don’t think the results will have an impact in that World Cup game. I believe every match is a brand new match and it doesn’t matter what kind of results you have achieved previously,” he explained.

Inzamam played down the fact that Pakistan have been shuffling their batting order and bowling line-ups in recent games saying that the team management used the last two matches of the series to experiment with a few combinations. “We are clear in our minds what sort of players we will have for the World Cup. It is just that we wanted to carry out some kind of experimentation in the last two games,” he explained.

Speaking on the future of discarded all-rounder Shahid Afridi, Inzamam came out with a diplomatic comment.

“Any player who cannot do well with the Pakistan team has the opportunity to find form in domestic matches so the doors for re-entering in the national team are open for such players,” he expressed.

Afridi was axed from the series against the West Indies after his poor form with the bat this season but was recalled for the fourth one-dayer in Multan following a couple of good outings in the Patron’s Trophy. However, he flopped in the Multan game and was dropped from Saturday’s match in Karachi.
Source:The News