Grant Bradburn, Pakistan head coach, believes that the Men in Green have not got any chance to play top countries, particularly India, in the ICC (International Cricket Council) events as one of the reasons for their poor outing in the ongoing ODI World Cup.
While speaking ahead of Pakistan's clash against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, Bradburn refuted the assertion that Pakistan had been 'favourites' to win the title.
"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. 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 was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
He also stated that Pakistan were the top-ranked team in April this year and became no. 1 last month before the start of the tournament. Bradburn added that Pakistan did not become the best team in the world, noting their position in the ongoing competition.
"We were No. 5 in April, we became No. 1 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, so 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," he said.
Pakistan have played only seven completed ODIs against India, England and Australia between the two World Cups. Only Zimbabwe, Netherlands, Ireland and Nepal have played fewer games against these nations. The Pakistan players also have the apparent drawback of not taking part in the Indian Premier League (IPL), which makes them unfamiliar to Indian conditions.
"No, we don't feel isolated or intimidated by that," Bradburn said. "Mickey [Arthur] and I, when we took over this team in April, six months ago, we recognised that the team was playing a gear or two below where we wanted the team to be playing in terms of the brand, because we know the brand of cricket that is winning against quality teams is a more dynamic brand than perhaps, we were playing. So, we set a new course in April this year.
"So, it hasn't been a big lead-in to this major tournament for us. Ideally preparation for a tournament like this starts four years ago. We started six months ago and changed direction in the way that we want to play the game of cricket , especially the one-day brand. We've shown some positive signs of that over the last six months, and as I've mentioned, during this tournament, we're very proud of some of the performances that we've put on the park.
"It's taking a little bit longer than we were hoping, but we want to play a dynamic brand that matches the challenge of the conditions we're playing in. So, this tournament is foreign condition for us. None of our players have played here before. Every venue is a new one, including this one. So, we've done our homework meticulously on our opposition, on our venues that we're playing at, and we're prepared very, very well for each and every encounter. But the reality is that each and every venue is a new one for us and we don't feel disadvantaged at all in terms of the knowledge, the quality, the skill, the backing that we have for this team of cricketers."
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