Captain Azhar Ali has said his team are heading in the right direction after a one-day series win over the West Indies which will lift their rankings and chances of direct entry to the 2019 World Cup.
Pakistan took an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three-match series with another thumping 59-run win in Sharjah on Sunday.
They won the first game by 111 runs at the same venue on Friday.
Pakistan, who play the last match in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, need to beat the West Indies 3-0 to rise one place to eighth, displacing their opponents to ninth.
Hosts England and the top seven teams in the one-day rankings on the cut off date of September 30 next year will automatically qualify for the 2019 World Cup.
More from Pakistan v West Indies:
• Second ODI: Generation Next shine in Sharjah
• Paul Radley: Babar Azam leads Pakistan's youth brigade
• Gallery: Babar Azam and Pakistan dominate West Indies in Sharjah
• First ODI: Babar Azam keeps Pakistan blooming in Sharjah
The two remaining teams will join eight Associates to feature in the qualifying round in 2018.
“It takes time to improve things,” Azhar said. “You need patience to lift a team. We started the rebuilding process after the 2015 World Cup and it takes one-and-a-half to two years so we are going towards that.”
Azhar replaced Misbah-ul-Haq who along with allrounder Shahid Afridi retired after the World Cup last year.
But Pakistan were whitewashed 3-0 in Bangladesh last year in Azhar’s first series as captain and lost 4-1 to England earlier this month.
That raised calls for his sacking but Azhar felt changes halted the team’s progress.
“No matter how many captains you change if you want to rebuild the team it takes one-and-a-half to two years,” he said.
“Our nation doesn’t have the patience, they want to win instantly. If you don’t win they get frustrated and want change. As a nation we have to take responsibility. It’s easy to look at things in hindsight and call for changes.
“We are getting allrounders who have brought depth in batting and we are scoring 300 plus.
“We are executing plans in bowling which is good, energy levels are high and with wins you lift your confidence. We have played well in the last five to seven matches.”
Dismissed for a first-ball duck and nine in the two matches against West Indies, Azhar hopes he strikes form sooner than later.
“My series against England was better and I scored runs there,” he said. “I am playing well in the nets so it will take one innings to come in form because my confidence level is high.”
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