ICC CWC 2019: Massive crowd support makes us feel at home, says Hafeez

Mohammad Hafeez stressed on the wicket-taking ability of a team as being a crucial factor for victory in the upcoming World Cup given the batting-friendly English pitches

Ahead of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, Pakistan's Mohammad Hafeez has expressed happiness over the support they have received in England, saying that he feels like the team is playing at home.

"Every time we come here, the first thing we get is the massive support. We always feel when coming here like we're playing at home. The fans are very fanatic and they want us to get success. That's what we're here for. It's a boost, to be honest," ICC quoted Hafeez as saying.

However, their recent performance on the English soil has not been convincing as they lost the five-match ODI series against England followed by a defeat at the hands of Afghanistan in their first World Cup warm-up match.

After playing and assessing the pitches, Hafeez feels that the pitches are going to be suitable for batsmen and believes that all the teams will manage to hit 'big scores'.

"The series we played here last time before the World Cup, I've never seen the pitches like that before. There's something to adjust, and I think everyone is ready for that. The pitches are immaculate now but let's see how it goes as the tournament progresses," he said.

"At the moment, it's really suitable for the batsmen and we'll see some big scores from all the teams," Hafeez added.

Moreover, Hafeez said that to stop any team from scoring big totals, their team must have a wicket-taking ability.

"I believe that cricket has evolved massively, but at the same time, you still need that wicket-taking ability in your bowling. If you don't have that, you can't stop any team. Your spinners will play a major role and at the same time you must have some mystery in you that can cause confusion in the other team," he said.

Pakistan will face West Indies for their first World Cup clash on May 31.