Pakistan became the second World T20 champions back in 2009 and their skipper Shahid Afridi is hopeful that they have the capabilities to lift the trophy for the second time in seven years.
A world cup is not considered to be an entertaining one unless there is one India vs Pakistan match and much to our delight, the arch-rivals will lock horns in the second match of the group stage of ICC World T20 2016 on 19 March at Dharamsala. Afridi is also confident that his side can overcome the India jinx in the World Cup.
Pakistan have never managed to win against India in a World Cup clash prior to this, be it the 50 over format or the shortest format of the international game.
Pakistan have been pitted against few of the cricketing powerhouses in the ICC World T20 2016. The Group B of the World T20 will see India, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and one qualifier. Afridi believes that these tough fixtures are likely to motivate the Pakistani players to give their best in the ICC World T20 2016 which will take place in India.
"We have a tough draw but I am hopeful that this challenge will pump-up my team to win the title and on the way beat India. I don't want to live in history. Whatever mistakes we usually make in the matches against India we have to overcome them," Afridi was quoted as saying by AFP on Thursday.
Pakistan's recent debacle in the T20 series against England in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) pushed them further down in the ICC T20 rankings into the sixth position. England managed to thrash Afridi-led Pakistan 3-0 in that series.
Afridi would want to change that statistics as early as possible before they embark on the ICC World T20 2016 mission. Pakistan will be playing a lot of T20 matches before the T20 World Cup.
They are supposed to tour New Zealand in January where they will be playing three T20 matches against the Kiwis. They will also be a part of the six-nation Asia Cup T20 tournament, which will be held in Bangladesh in February 2016.
"We made school boy errors and despite putting up good fights in all three matches we lost by narrow margins so we have to be on our toes and should not repeat those mistakes," Afridi added.
"We have enough matches before the World Twenty20 so we have to find a settled combination and I hope we do well in these matches and carry that form into the World Twenty20."
