By IANS,
Dhaka : As India sent defending champions Australia packing out of the cricket World Cup in Ahmedabad, over 2,000 kms away in this Bangladesh capital, Pakistani players were glued to the television since Thursday afternoon.
India’s spectaular win over Australia, who have won the Cup four times, the last three on the trot, set the stage for a mouth-watering India-Pakistan semifinal clash at Mohali March 30.
“They were totally engrossed in the match,” said Pakistan manager Intikhab Alam.
Alam had a harried time responding to requests from scribes for one-on-ones with the Pakistani players.
But he turned them down since the afternoon, saying the players don’t want to get disturbed with the match on.
Pakistan coach Waqar Younis had said after his team’s 10-wicket victory against the West Indies in the first quarterfinal that the team would watch the match closely to get details about their semifinal opponents.
Realising that passions in both countries would rise ahead of the game between the two neighbours, Younis had said it should be taken as a game and not a war.
“It is a game and not a war,” Younis told mediapersons here.
When reminded that Pakistan has had a poor World Cup record against India, he replied: “Everybody is beatable. Any team can play well on a given day.”