Pakistan captain Younus Khan is confident his team can go one better in the World Twenty20 after finishing runners-up last time to bitter rivals India.
Two years ago, Pakistan lost a nailbiting final against India by five runs in Johannesburg, a loss that Younus insists his team is eager to put behind them.
"We want to win the title," said Younus. "We have the talent, but it's a tough competition where other eleven teams will do their best to finish at the top."
Pakistan are in Group B, along with hosts England and the Netherlands, in first round of the competition which runs from June 5-21.
They take on England June 7 before facing the Netherlands two days later.
The second round Super Eight stages should give Pakistan an easy draw with likely rivals being New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
But Younus is not taking any team lightly.
"We need to be at our best even against the Netherlands because no team is small or big," said Younus who was referring to Pakistan's defeat to Ireland at the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean which sent them packing from the tournament.
That defeat was the start of a dark chapter in Pakistan's cricket history.
Coach Bob Woolmer died at the tournament while captain Inzamam-ul-Haq retired.
Shoaib Malik, who was handed the captaincy after Younus refused to lead the team, restored some normalcy by taking Pakistan to the runners-up spot at the inaugural World Twenty20.
Malik then lost the captaincy after Pakistan's one-day defeat against Sri Lanka earlier this year. That led to Younus taking over the hot seat.
Under Younus, Pakistan lost 3-2 to Australia in a recent one-day series in the United Arab Emirates, but won the one-off Twenty20 match.
Younus said Pakistan's preparations have been satisfactory.
"We beat Australia in the Twenty20 match which was a good morale booster and then had a good conditioning camp and some practice matches which tuned us well for England," said Younus, whose team has the best win ratio in all Twenty20.
Pakistan have won eight of their 11 internationals with two defeats and one tied match.
Pakistan will heavily rely on paceman Umar Gul who has taken the most wickets (24 in 14 matches) in this newest form of the game and with injury-prone Shoaib Akhtar pulled out of the team, his responsibility has increased.
Rao Iftikhar, who replaced Akhtar in the squad, Sohail Tanvir, Yasir Arafat and rookie paceman Mohammad Aamir complete the fast bowling line-up.
The 17-year-old Aamir is tipped to surprise with his speed and swing in English conditions.
Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal and Shoaib Malik lead the the spin department which has the ability to stop runs and take wickets.
Off-spinner Ajmal received a boost ahead of the event when his action was cleared by the International Cricket Council.
Younus hoped his own batting form improves to help lift an otherwise inconsistent line-up which also has opener Salman Butt, Misbah-ul-Haq, Malik Afridi and in-form Kamran Akmal..
Two years ago, Pakistan lost a nailbiting final against India by five runs in Johannesburg, a loss that Younus insists his team is eager to put behind them.
"We want to win the title," said Younus. "We have the talent, but it's a tough competition where other eleven teams will do their best to finish at the top."
Pakistan are in Group B, along with hosts England and the Netherlands, in first round of the competition which runs from June 5-21.
They take on England June 7 before facing the Netherlands two days later.
The second round Super Eight stages should give Pakistan an easy draw with likely rivals being New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
But Younus is not taking any team lightly.
"We need to be at our best even against the Netherlands because no team is small or big," said Younus who was referring to Pakistan's defeat to Ireland at the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean which sent them packing from the tournament.
That defeat was the start of a dark chapter in Pakistan's cricket history.
Coach Bob Woolmer died at the tournament while captain Inzamam-ul-Haq retired.
Shoaib Malik, who was handed the captaincy after Younus refused to lead the team, restored some normalcy by taking Pakistan to the runners-up spot at the inaugural World Twenty20.
Malik then lost the captaincy after Pakistan's one-day defeat against Sri Lanka earlier this year. That led to Younus taking over the hot seat.
Under Younus, Pakistan lost 3-2 to Australia in a recent one-day series in the United Arab Emirates, but won the one-off Twenty20 match.
Younus said Pakistan's preparations have been satisfactory.
"We beat Australia in the Twenty20 match which was a good morale booster and then had a good conditioning camp and some practice matches which tuned us well for England," said Younus, whose team has the best win ratio in all Twenty20.
Pakistan have won eight of their 11 internationals with two defeats and one tied match.
Pakistan will heavily rely on paceman Umar Gul who has taken the most wickets (24 in 14 matches) in this newest form of the game and with injury-prone Shoaib Akhtar pulled out of the team, his responsibility has increased.
Rao Iftikhar, who replaced Akhtar in the squad, Sohail Tanvir, Yasir Arafat and rookie paceman Mohammad Aamir complete the fast bowling line-up.
The 17-year-old Aamir is tipped to surprise with his speed and swing in English conditions.
Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal and Shoaib Malik lead the the spin department which has the ability to stop runs and take wickets.
Off-spinner Ajmal received a boost ahead of the event when his action was cleared by the International Cricket Council.
Younus hoped his own batting form improves to help lift an otherwise inconsistent line-up which also has opener Salman Butt, Misbah-ul-Haq, Malik Afridi and in-form Kamran Akmal..
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