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Pakistan head coach Grant Bradburn admitted that the Men in Green have failed to put a coherent performance covering all departments in their recent games but noted that four successive defeats in the World Cup don't define them as a team.
Pakistan won the first two games of the World Cup and have lost four consecutive matches raising doubts about their semi-final chances. Ahead of the Bangladesh clash, Bradburn said they are focusing on the games ahead. "We are also realistic in the knowledge that we haven't put all departments of our game together over the last four games but four losses do not define who we are as players, as coaches or a team, So we're determined now to focus on what we can control and that is putting our best on the park in these last three games and then leaving that to fate as - to determine the remainder of the tournament for Pakistan," Bradburn said in the pre-match press conference. Pakistan were considered to be one of the favourites ahead of the tournament but the team's performance has disappointed the fans. Bradburn talked about dealing with the pressure. "We were number five in April, we became number one recently before the tournament, and that might be where you term the phrase favourites. But we're realistic. We have not been the best in the world as yet, which highlights where we are in this tournament right now. We have no divine right to beat anyone in this tournament. We have to play quality cricket, and we have to put all three departments of our game together. We are desperate to bring joy to our nation. We are desperate to make our nation very proud of this cricket team." "Look I'm not sure where you get favourites from because there are 10 teams in this tournament, there's 150 cricketers who are the best on the planet and in terms of the ICC rankings, we know they are skewed because we don't get to play India, we don't get to play a lot of the top nations who haven't been to Pakistan of late," Bradburn added. Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim. Bangladesh squad: Shakib Al Hasan (c), Litton Kumer Das, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Najmul Hossain Shanto (vc), Tawhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Nasum Ahmed, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Shoriful Islam, Tanzim Hasan Sakib. (ANI)
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