Utseya confident of good showing in Pakistan

Lahore, Jan 19 (UNI) Despite being underdogs in the ODI series against Pakistan starting next week, Zimbabwe captain Prosper Utseya is confident that his team will be no pushovers and will give the hosts a run for their money.

''Pakistan are favourites but we are in a positive and confident mood,'' Utseya said.''We are young in age but some of our players have played over 50 ODIs and we have recent victories over Australia and West Indies.'' The 22-year-old skipper stated that his side has the ammunition to beat Pakistan. ''We have a good all-round team and these guys can help us get more experience. We need to put ourselves in a good position not only for this series, but also for the future and the only way we can do that is by winning,'' he said.

Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik, who will have three uncapped players in his 15-man squad for the first two games, refused to underestimate his rivals.

''We don't want to underestimate Zimbabwe,'' Malik said. ''They are an improving side but this is a good opportunity for us to try out one or two new faces in every match.'' UNI XC AB RAR AS1529