LAHORE, Feb 9: Pakistan junior coach Mansoor Rana, while departing for an important World Cup assignment on Saturday, has vowed to maintain the same momentum in the mega event, which his team showed by winning the tri-angular tournament in Sri Lanka.

Led by Imad Wasim, the 15-member Pakistan team, who are the defending champions, where to leave for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, late on Saturday night to take part in the World Cup.

While talking to reporters, Mansoor said that playing together for the last one and a half years against various countries such as Australia, England and Bangladesh in the recent past; the boys had matured quite a bit, while creating a good combination. Becoming more professional, they were also learning to keep themselves match-fit

“After losing a home series to Bangladesh, we tried to overcome our shortcomings and won the three-nation Cup in Sri Lanka and hopefully we will give the same performance in the World Cup to defend the title for the third consecutive time,” he said.

Mansoor sees India and Bangladesh as Pakistan’s two close rivals in the World Cup.

The induction of batsman Umar Akmal in the team has also added strength of our batting line-up.

Team:

Imad Wasim (captain), Ali Asad, Ahmed Shehzad, Shan Masood (vice-captain), Umar Amin, Umair Mir (wicket-keeper), Usman Salahuddin, Shahzaib Ahmed, Umar Akmal, Mohammad Rameez, Mohammad Aamer, Adil Raza, Junaid Khan, Azhar Attari, Ahsan Mirza.

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