Pakistan will raise winning team for World Cup: Afridi

KARACHI - Pakistan cricket captain Shahid Afridi feels that his team will transform itself into a winning outfit in the lead up to the World Cup that starts in February 2011.

“The World Cup is an all-important event for all of us which is why we are taking all possible steps to put the team back on track,” said Afridi, the experienced allrounder who will be leading Pakistan in World Cup 2011 which kicks off in Bangladesh on February 19.

“The boys are working hard in the camp in Lahore and Im sure that they would be in much better shape when we leave for New Zealand for a full series, he added.

Pakistan will leave for New Zealand on December 17 to play three Twenty20 Internationals, two Tests and six One-day Internationals. The tour will conclude just days before the start of the World Cup.

Afridi is confident that Pakistan will conclude its World Cup preparations in New Zealand on a positive note.

New Zealand will prove us with a great opportunity to get fully ready for the World Cup, said Afridi. We are more or less sure about our World Cup combination and the one-day series in New Zealand will help us take a final decision on it.

Afridi said that Pakistans Achilles heal has been its below-par fielding but is hopeful that his troops will do better in this area of the game in New Zealand and in the World Cup.

Fielding has let us down many a times in the recent past but Im confident that it is going to be much better now because we have worked really hard to improve it in the last few weeks.