India still needed 12-odd runs to go past the Australian total but Pakistan manager Intikhab Alam,following the quarterfinal action on TV in Mirpur,had no doubt about his teams semifinal opponent in Mohali on March 30. The man who had once trained the Punjab Ranji team,backed his one-time ward Yuvraj Singh to do it for India. Not just me,every member of the Pakistan team wanted India to win. Playing India motivates the team. You can call it a World Cup final of sorts. We were all glued to the television all evening, said the 69-year-old former Pakistan legspinner. Pakistan coach Waqar Younis,a veteran of several high-pressure Indo-Pak games,gave a drift of the pep talk he intended to give to his players in the coming days. I am not someone who would say things like Bring it on or anything. I would just say take it easy. We have enough time before the semis, he said. The hero of Pakistans quarterfinal decimation of the West Indies,Mohammad Hafeez,said he cant wait to walk into a jampacked Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali. It will be really exciting to play India. The atmosphere will be really electrifying. Playing in front of an Indian crowd will be interesting. I hope India and Pakistan play more matches in future, Hafeez said.
