Shahid Afridi
Shahid Afridi said in an interview that he would love to play in the quarter finals in India if the matches are scheduled here. There had been reports earlier that Pakistan would have liked not to play their quarter finals in India if possible due to the strained political relations between the two nations. Even former Pakistani player Wasim Akram had suggested that it would be better if Pakistan played their quarter finals either in Sri Lanka or in Bangladesh as that would allow more number of Pakistani fans to fly to those countries and support their team.
However Shahid Afridi contradicted the whole theory of not playing in India in the knockout stages “I have never said anything along the lines that we don’t want to go to India. I never said that. We are here to play the World Cup, so wherever we have to play we will go and we have no fears over going to India.”
There is only one Quarterfinal in India, which is in Motera (Ahmadabad) and it is supposed to be played between the team at the second position of Group A against the team which is at the third position in Group B.
Given the current situation Pakistan are second in the table although they have the same points as Australia (8), with one more game to go against the defending champions themselves. Thus whoever wins the match on the 19th tops the table and the team which loses is placed second and would have to play their quarter final in India.
As far as the Group B is concerned South Africa is topping the table so far with eight points and one match to go. However with West Indies at six points and two matches still to go of which one they are playing today, it is quite likely that India might be placed third in Group B.
But then again with one more match to go against West Indies, which if won by India would not only see them through to the quarter finals but also assure them a possible second position in Group B.
However whatever is the outcome of all these permutations and combinations, what is important is that the Afridi’s have a positive mindset and are willing to play anywhere. Afridi further says, “I think a cricket match has always brought the people of both countries together and has the capacity to improve the relations between the two, I have always enjoyed cricket in India, never enjoyed anywhere more than in India, I get maximum enjoyment there. The kind of cricket we are playing we fear no venue and no opposition, so India in India, and Australia in the last group match are no problems.”
On being asked if he feared the extremists in India he says “What ever is the response, we will get to know it when we go there because we will be going there after a long time… We have played in India in worse situations.”
Tags: Ahmadabad, Cricket, ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, India, Motera, Pakistan, Quarterfinal, Shahid Afridi, World Cup
