Pakistan peaking at right time, says Miandad

Sharjah, March 22: Pakistan coach Javed Miandad feels that the fortunes of his cornered team can only go up after a long and hard season of losses.

"If I am reading the things correctly, Pakistan team has already started to peak and the recent defeats are well past us," Miandad, the most illustrious batsman Pakistan has produced, said after a rigorous training session at Sharjah stadium nets on Wednesday.

"I know my job pretty well and nobody in Pakistan can dispute my knowledge about the game. Ever since I took over, things have started looking up for us and I am sure the momentum will be maintained," he said on the eve of Pakistan's opening match against India.

"At the moment, I am determined to lift the team and get them back to winning ways," said the former captain.

"I am working hard on batting and fitness problems of the team. I make the boys sweat in the nets and work minutely on the small technical details of their batting and fielding. I am sure my professional approach towards the game will fix whatever problems we have in these areas," said Miandad.

Some of the youngsters in the team are showing promising signs. The idea is to keep them giving chances to prove themselves and to build a better future in the team. "You can never predict about a one-day game or the tournament. But all the boys know that winning here will do a world of good to their confidence before the tours of West Indies and Bangladesh," he added.

Pakistan goes into Thursday's match with a psychological advantage of having beaten India in three out of four matches when the two teams clashed in Australia a couple of months ago.

Test all-rounder Abdur Razzaq left Lahore for Sharjah on Wednesday to join the Pakistan cricket team here. Abdur Razzaq could not fly with the team on Monday due to the sad demise of his father Altaf Husain.