Pak under tremendous pressure to do well in Champions Trophy: Afridi

Lahore, Aug.31 (ANI) : Newly appointed Pakistan vice captain Shahid Afridi has said that being the ICC Twenty20 World Cup champions, Pakistan will be under tremendous pressure in the Champions Trophy.

Expressing full confidence in his team, Afridi said the T20 World Cup triumph proves that Pakistan has the ability to win mega tournaments.

"Carrying the tag of T20 World Cup winners into Champions Trophy means there are automatically going to be a lot of expectations from us to do well. The way we won T20 World Cup means we have the ability to win the Champions Trophy, but the only thing is we have to develop mindset to handle pressure as well," The Daily Times quoted Afridi, as saying.

Afridi, who has recently been appointed captain Younis Khan's deputy replacing Misbah-ul-Haq, rejected reports of a rift in the team, saying his prime objective would be to perform both with the bat and ball.

He said there is no additional pressure on him after being appointed the vice-captain, and stressed that he would continue his natural 'boom boom' style during the Champions Trophy.

"Having been named as vice-captain is not going to mean any additional pressure on me because I have been around for a long time and Younis is a top captain who knows how to lead the side," he said, adding, "I have been given the T20 captaincy and now made the vice-captain. This is good enough for me now. But I know my primary and most important role still remains to contribute consistently as a player." (ANI)