'Real competition between Pak & Lanka'

    
KARACHI: His captain might say that they are no favourites in the Twenty20 four-nation international tournament beginning in Toronto from Friday, but vice captain Misbah-ul-Haq said the competition will be between Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
    
Just before leaving for Toronto last night, Misbah candidly said that he didn't see Zimbabwe and Canada offering strong competition in the four-nation tournament.    

"The real competition will be between us and Sri Lanka because these are the two teams who can win the tournament," Misbah said.
    
Interestingly, Shoaib Malik had said recently that they were no favorites in the Toronto event as in Twenty20 cricket any team can cause an upset and Zimbabwe and Canada cannot be taken lightly.
    
But Misbah felt differently. "Sri Lanka is the only team which we will have to work hard and play well to beat," he said.
    
Misbah, however, feels that the tournament would give the players much needed exposure at the international level as they were frustrated with the postponement of international series at home.

"The postponement of the Australians Test tour and the Champions Trophy has really been frustrating for all of us so in Toronto we finally have a chance to get back into action and try to win the tournament and bring some joy to our people," he said.
    
Misbah said besides Twenty20 cricket, Pakistan needed to play more Test and one-day internationals to improve their rankings and remain in the top four or five teams in the world ratings.
    
"But in current situation having some cricket is better than sitting idle," he added.
    
He praised the Pakistan Cricket Board for deciding to have the national Twenty20 championship at the start of the season.
    
"The presence of all the Pakistan team players in the tournament made it a tough event for all of us and it has helped resume cricket activities in the country," he said.