Pakistan’s star opener Fakhar Zaman is confident about winning next year’s ODI World Cup, to be held in South Africa.
“We are taking the World Cup very seriously. We will give our best. Hopefully we can bring the trophy back to Pakistan,” he said.
Pakistan won the Champions Trophy in 2017, beating India in the final. They have not won an International Cricket Council (ICC) title since, but the team is confident about next year’s World Cup.
Fakhar said the players had met among themselves about winning it. “There is pressure on us to win an ICC trophy. We have discussed in detail among ourselves how to end the drought of a major international trophy,” he said.
“It is natural for people to be disappointed when we go so long without an ICC trophy. We have seen that when we play well, we get the love and respect of the fans. But reaching a semi-final or a final is one thing; the way the whole country erupts when you win a trophy is a completely different feeling,” he added.
Pakistan are currently playing a tri-nation ODI series against England and Sri Lanka. Calling the series very important for World Cup preparation, the opening batter said: “The process of building the World Cup squad has to start now. The best thing is that most of the cricketers are coming into the tri-series after playing domestic cricket.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report