Pakistan are the number one T20I side in the world and have a huge task of retaining their top spot in the tri-series involving Australia and Zimbabwe. But the Sarfraz Ahmed-led side is more focused on winning the series rather than thinking about rankings.
“Definitely ranking is very important, but we are not thinking about it,” Sarfraz said.
“When I was named the captain, we were at number seven. We were not thinking about going to number one and we went up. Here we are thinking about playing good and positive cricket and to win the tri-nation series.”
Under Sarfraz, Pakistan have won 19 games, won the series against New Zealand, West Indies and Scotland.
“The T20I team is playing good cricket especially from the last two years. Our combination is very good. We have very good youngsters and senior players. We all are being very good especially in the fielding and batting which is why we are on the right track.”
Currently the other two teams are dealing with tough times on and off the field that might affect their performances. While Australia are yet to win a match after the infamous ball-tampering scandal, Zimbabwe is facing a payment crisis because of which many of their senior players won’t be available for the series.
“If you think about T20 cricket, you cannot underestimate any team,” Sarfraz said.
“The Zimbabwe side is very good with some good players. Hamilton Masakadza is a very senior player. Elton Chigumbura is back. The first game of the tour is very important. We will try our best to play our best cricket and win the match as well.”
Pakistan squad: Sarfraz Ahmed (C), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Hussain Talat, Haris Sohail, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Amir, Usman Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Sahibzada Farhan.
