Pakistan will rout India, says coach Lawson

Pak coach Geoff Lawson says his team would look to extend its 12-match unbeaten run by routing arch-rivals India on Tueady.

After crushing Bangladesh by 70 runs, Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson says his team would now look to extend its 12-match unbeaten run by routing arch-rivals India by a bigger margin in the second cricket one-dayer of the ongoing tri-series in Dhaka on Tuesday.

An elated Lawson said Pakistan, who beat Bangladesh last night in the tri-series opener, just had to play their natural game without allowing the pressure of the contest to get to their nerves.

“We do not want to treat the match as a must win one and put ourselves under pressure. We want to play our own game,” Lawson said about the match, a win in which would assure Pakistan a place in the finals.

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On what the team’s strategy would be against India, obviously a stronger opponent than Bangladesh, the Australian said it was not meant to be discussed in the media.

“I would prefer to discuss strategies against India with my player rather than telling the media. I would like to score a 150-run win over India on Tuesday,” he said.

On last night’s victory, Lawson said he was particularly pleased with an out-of-form Shahid Afridi’s all-round effort.

Afridi scored 20 runs off 17 balls and picked up three wickets in his eight over conceding a mere 19 runs.

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“He is obviously an experienced player. Every team has its own targets and they do have their strategies against rival teams,” he said.