Younus Khan
Pakistan will fly out for South Africa on Thursday for the ICC Champions Trophy with skipper Younus Khan confident that his team would improve on its otherwise poor record in the elite eight-nation tournament.
"We have worked really hard for the Champions Trophy," Younus told reporters at the end of the second and final phase of a preparatory camp here at the National Stadium. "The team certainly looks really good and I'm sure if the boys do well at critical stages in the tournament, we have a good chance to win it."
Pakistan, along with England, are one of the only two top teams still to win the Champions Trophy that was launched in 1998.
At the previous edition of the tournament in India when Younus Khan was a fresh captain, Pakistan flopped miserably and crashed out of the first round following back-to-back losses against New Zealand and South Africa. Pakistan suffered additional embarrassment when two of their key bowlers - Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif - tested positive for banned steroid nandrolone during the tournament.
Younus led Pakistan to a stunning title-winning triumph in the ICC World Twenty20 championship in England earlier this summer and is of the view that his team was certainly capable of winning the Champions Trophy as well. "Any team that has match-winners like Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik and the great Mohammad Yousuf should be taken seriously," he said. "Any team that has bowlers like (off spinner) Saeed Ajmal, has the ability to win major titles."
