Mohammad Yousuf backs 'struggling' Misbah's men to reach CWC quarterfinals

Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf is of the opinion that the national team would reach the quarterfinals of the 2015 World Cup despite the national team's struggling form in the tournament so far.

Speaking after Pool 'B' rivals Ireland's 201-run hammering by South Africa on Tuesday, a day before Pakistan face the UAE in a crucial match, the batting legend said that things were coming together for Misbah-ul Haq's men.

Pakistan have kept alive their World Cup hopes with victory against Zimbabwe on Sunday, after opening their campaign with back-to-back losses against arch-rivals India and the mercurial West Indies, The Dawn reported.

After their clash against the UAE, Pakistan would face South Africa on Saturday before going head-to-head with Ireland in their final Pool 'B' fixture on March 15.

Yousuf said that he believes Pakistan would make it to the last eight of the showpiece, predicting that they would play New Zealand in the quarterfinal in Wellington on March 21. He said that Ireland's huge loss to South Africa would help Pakistan in catching them up on net run-rate if it comes down to that in the end.

A member of Pakistan's 2007 World Cup squad which lost to Ireland on its way to a humiliating group-stage exit, Yousuf believes Pakistan would come good if they were to play the Irish with their quarterfinal hopes on the line.

Yousuf said that with the match being held at the Adelaide Oval, which is good for batting, he doesn't see Pakistan being troubled by Ireland. He added that they lost to Ireland in 2007 because of the track and the rain at Jamaica's Sabina Park, insisting that the ball was swinging and their batting went down.