World Cup 2019: 'We have to be realistic about our chances,' says Sarfraz Ahmed

What's the news?

Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed has claimed that Pakistan needs to be realistic regarding their chances to qualify for the semifinal of the 2019 World Cup. The wicket-keeper batsman said that in spite of odds being heavily against Pakistan, they would try to do the unthinkable against Bangladesh.

In case you didn't know

England booked their spot in the semifinals by beating New Zealand in their final match of the league stage. While Pakistan can get level on points with the Kiwis, their poor net run rate makes it almost impossible to overtake the Blackcaps.

Heart of the matter

Sarfaraz Ahmed told the media that his team wants to win every match in the World Cup so they would do their best to get a positive result against Bangladesh. He claimed that even if Pakistan is able to put up a score of around 600 on the board, it would be very difficult to reduce Bangla Tigers to a small total.

"Obviously we are here to win all the matches. We will do our best to win the last game as well. We will do our best but we need to be realistic. If you score 600, 500 or 400 score on a pitch then you think you can get the other team out for 50? It will be tough but we will still give it a try", Sarfaraz Ahmed said, as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo

The Pakistan captain said that his team knows the task at hand, as they realize that they must score more than 500 in their final match.

"The target is in front of us, there are no secrets that [we have] to score 500, 550 and then win by a 316-run margin. But if you look at the tournament then, realistically it is a 280-300 tournament." Sarfaraz added

Sarfaraz Ahmed further added that he feels that match against Australia proved to be the turning point of their World Cup campaign. He pointed out that Pakistan was in a good position to win the match but they failed to grab the opportunity.

"The turning point was the loss against Australia. We were in a better position to win that game but lost the way in the middle overs," he pointed out.

What's next?

Pakistan will take on Bangladesh on 5th June 2019 at the iconic Lord's stadium. The Men in Green would want to end their campaign on a high note by beating their Asian rivals at the Mecca of cricket.

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