Pakistan banish past demons ahead of Kuwait clash

(MENAFN- Arab Times) KARACHI Feb 25: Pakistan''s topranked tennis player Aqeel Khan shrugged off concerns regarding the possibility of a repeat of the country''s last unsavoury experience of playing on a neutral venue as the team gears up for its Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Zone II round one tie against Kuwait in Sri Lanka says the Express Tribune. Aqeel along with Aisamul Haq Qureshi was given a bitter dose in Myanmar in 2013 against New Zealand where the referee declared the second-round tie in the visitors'' favour due to ''unplayable court condition'' in Yangon a venue that the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) had chosen to host the tie. Since 2006 teams from other countries have been reluctant to visit Pakistan due to security concerns forcing the PTF to host ties on neutral grounds. This time the destination is Sri Lanka.

''We are more confident with Sri Lanka as the venue because the people there are more experienced in organising Davis Cup ties'' Aqeel told The Express Tribune adding that the team is concentrating on the upcoming clash against Kuwait rather than dwelling on the past. The Karachi-based player acknowledged that Kuwait would be tough opponents to deal with. ''Kuwait have at least two very good players so it won''t be easy'' he said. ''However we''ve played in Sri Lanka before while Kuwait will be out of their comfort zone so we do have an edge there. ''We will also be practicing in Sri Lanka for six days before the tie.''

Meanwhile PTF secretary Muhammad Khalid Rehmani said the federation is spending more than Rs4 million to hold the tie in Colombo but he believes that it is worth the cost. ''There is a 65 per cent chance that Pakistan will win this tie so we want to go all out'' he said. The official added that Aqeel and Aisam an experienced player on the ATP circuit will be the federation''s main hopes. ''Apart from them we also have new talent like Abid Ali Akbar and Ahmed Chaudhry who have the potential to deliver.'' The team will leave for Sri Lanka on Saturday from Lahore while Rashid Malik will be leading the side as its non-playing captain