Pakistan are very much alive in World Cup 2019: Azhar Mehmood

BIRMINGHAM: They say there’s always a bad day and Pakistan’s bowling coach Azhar Mehmood hopes that the unbeaten New Zealand will have their's on Wednesday when they meet Pakistan in a key World Cup game here at Edgbaston. New Zealand are yet to be beaten in this World Cup with five wins in six games and one game being washed out. Pakistan has won two out of their six games and are in a must-win situation against New Zealand to stay alive in the World Cup.“There’s always a bad day. Teams do have one bad day after streak of wins and I just hope it is their's tomorrow,” Azhar said with a smile.“Anyway, we’ll have to be at our best, we must give our 100% in all three departments of the game,” the former all-rounder stated.The bowling coach added that things aren’t different from 1992 and Pakistan team will play each game like their last.He said that Pakistan team has played enough cricket with New Zealand and knows about their strength and weaknesses. “Everyone is playing their part, there’s input from everyone, including our fielding coach from New Zealand Grant Bradbun,” Mehmood said. Replying to a question, the bowling coach stated that Pakistan are very much alive in the tournament and they’ll try to give their best by winning all remaining games. “Top three need to play an important role, if they can score big then we will be in a position to beat any team. But I repeat that we need to be at our best in all three departments of the game,” he added.He hoped that Hasan Ali would return to the form soon and he just needs a good day to regain the momentum. “If you look at Amir, he was also struggling but this tournament has become his comeback event. He has regained his confidence. I hope Hasan returns to the form soon as well,” he said. He hinted that Pakistan would go with an unchanged XI on Wednesday against New Zealand.Azhar also shared his views on negativity that Pakistan team faced before its win against New Zealand on Sunday and said that sometimes negativity makes everyone angry.“One should be positive, at least for a change. We don't need to be negative all the time. Sometimes with so much negativity around, one may think about swallowing poison,” Azhar said finishing the press conference with a laughter.

from The News International - Sports http://bit.ly/2Xzs9Ur