We will perform better in Twenty20 World Cup: Malik

KARACHI: Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik is confident that his young side would leave behind the bitter memories of the World Cup in the Caribbean and put up a better show at the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa next month.

"That was a nightmare for everyone and definitely we will try to make amends in this tournament," Malik said before leaving for the Nairobi, where they will play a warm-up tournament before the Twenty20 meet.

The Pakistan team left without experienced players Mohammad Yousuf and Abdul Razzaq, who in protest to their exclusion from the team joined Indian Cricket League.

Malik, however, said as this kind of tournament was being oraganised for the first time it was hard to predict the possible winners.

"It is hard to make predictions but we have a balanced side for this format of the game and a strong pace attack. This form of cricket can be even more unpredictable than one-day internationals, so it all matters how you perform on a particular day," he said.

Team Manager Talat Ali said the warm-up games were the ideal preparations before the World Championship.

"It is a good thing that coach Lawson has the opportunity to see the players in action before the real event. He can experiment a bit with the combinations," said Talat.

Lawson said the element of luck would also play a part in the tournament.

"All the teams are new to it including Australia. So even if you have some explosive players I think that luck will play some part. Everyone wants to win and to do so, any side will need an element of luck," said the Australian.