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ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP

March 19, 2015

Misbah Ul-Haq

ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Q. Misbah, do you have a team yet?
MISBAH UL-HAQ: Sorry?

Q. Do you have an 11 worked out yet?
MISBAH UL-HAQ: What do you want me to do? Announce the team here?

Q. Sometimes Australia does that?
MISBAH UL-HAQ: No, it's a secret (laughing).

Q. I believe that yourself and Shahid are going to retire after this One Day World Cup. I know you want to win tomorrow, but how proud are you of the impact you've been able to make in this tournament?
MISBAH UL-HAQ: I'm pretty satisfied with what I had and especially Shahid. The biggest satisfaction is that we gave everything to our team and country. Whatever we've got, we just put our efforts together for the country, and that is the biggest satisfaction. Obviously, this World Cup and this is still not over, and we'd really like to do good in this tournament, especially trying to win tomorrow's game and go further in the tournament. That's what you could say is our desire and dream is. I'd say I want to play good cricket tomorrow even and put out a hundred percent.

Q. Australia are huge favorites for this match. How do you beat them on their home soil and with the lineup that they have?
MISBAH UL-HAQ: Yeah, they are favorites, but there is no hard and fast rule that favorites are always going to win the game. It's on the day, the team that performs better, the team who has better chances, better luck, can really defeat any team. So we are hopeful and we are very positive. I think we've got a bowling lineup which can really go through any team, and a few batters just getting back into form. This is only a matter of just putting a good show on that day. So I think we're looking forward for that.

Q. You had a poor start here in this tournament against India, and you had a bit of success at the Adelaide Oval. Do you feel like now you're picking up the right time to take on the Aussies?
MISBAH UL-HAQ: Yeah, I think for when the (Indiscernible) gives you a lot of confidence as a team as a playing unit. So I think the mindset is good at the moment, momentum is really good, so this is the best time to play against such a good team because we are also in a good frame of mind.

Q. There is a possibility that it could be your last One Day game tomorrow. How do you approach the game? You must have seen Sangakkara yesterday couldn't do much for the team because it just collapsed. So what are your feelings? How do you go into this match tomorrow personally?
MISBAH UL-HAQ: It's very simple. You just take it as a game, as a normal game. Go there and try to do your basic stride and try to give a hundred percent. That is the only thing you can do. If you just think about this game further than that, you are putting yourself under pressure, and I'm not going to do that, even Shahid is not going to do that. Play it as a normal game, go there, do your best, and put your hundred percent.

Q. There is a general impression that you don't adopt an intuitive approach in the out of box things. Do you have any plans to achieve your goals tomorrow and upset Australia?
MISBAH UL-HAQ: Yeah, of course we have our plans, but sometimes as you try to do these things the way Sri Lanka tried to do in the quarterfinals yesterday, and they just got trapped into that. So sometimes simple things, basic things if you are doing them right will really help you, especially in crunch situations, crunch matches. You just don't want to make things complex. Just make things simple for you and your team. That could really work.

Q. Do you think what happened in the UAE at the end of last year will be in the back of Australia's minds in that test series?
MISBAH UL-HAQ: I don't know what is in Australia's mind. But I think we need to concentrate on what we can do and what we have to do tomorrow.

Q. This will be your third game here, including one just less than a week ago. How much of an advantage is that being based here and getting to know the conditions?
MISBAH UL-HAQ: Yeah, it's of course when you're playing more games at a certain venue you really just adopt the conditions and know how the pitch will play, how the boundaries are, how the ground dimensions are, so you're used to that atmosphere. That can really help you.

Q. Over a lot of years of playing Australia in different formats, different countries, what is the consistent thing that you have taken from playing against them and what do you need to do in particular against Australia?
MISBAH UL-HAQ: I think Australia always just plays aggressive cricket, and if you want to really up there against them, you also need a good, aggressive cricket, good, positive cricket, and that is the key. If two teams are playing aggressive cricket, you still have a chance. It's not like that. You go with the defensive approach against Australia and you can just win the game. It's all about aggression. It's all about attacking cricket, and that's, I think, what we are looking forward.

Q. If you could just talk us through a little bit about the fan support that you'll probably get in Adelaide? Two, the also of Irfan, how much does that mean to you guys?
MISBAH UL-HAQ: It's always good support here, especially we were in the quarterfinals, so a lot of fans will be traveling from all over the world to support Pakistan team. So that will be great for us. Regarding Irfan, obviously, everybody knows that he is a different kind of bowler, but that's a big loss for the team. But you have to just handle these things. You can't say now Irfan is out of this competition so we just can't play Australia. I mean, we've got other bowlers who are good enough, equally good enough, and they are also performing really well. They are up to the mark, all of the three seamers, even the fourth one. Yassir Shah is a bowler that can really put pressure on the opposition. So we've still got that sort of team, that sort of talent, that sort of bowling line-up that could really put Australia under pressure.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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