Warm up record:
Pakistan's recent cricketing news has read more about its players' off-field exploits than on. With the drama surrounding the failed Shoaib Akhtar and new sensation Mohd Asif, the Pakistani players were justified in claiming that their mind was not completely on the job. With an ailing captain and a bowling attack devastated by injuries and the stupid actions of two of their best bowlers; Pakistan arrived ahead of their WC in an unenviable position of having a second string bowling attack. To compound to their problems, their most reliable all-rounder in ODIs Abdul Razzaq was ruled out of the squad due to injuries.
Even on the batting front things looked shaky. Their one-man batting army and captain Inzamam is not going through his best years as a batsman or captain. There are big question marks about is best suited to open the batting and worst of all there is talk about in-fighting in the team.
If there is one thing to cheer about for the Pakistanis, it is that Mohd Yousuf has been having his best year as a batsman and Younis Khan could always be relied upon to be the linchpin of the batting lineup. However overall things looked sombre.
The warm up matches however did much to lift the spirits of the Pakistani cricket team and their fans. First they disposed of Canada in their first game with Mohd Hafeez turning in good performances with bat and ball and Inzi doing his bit with the bat.
The second game was even better. First they destroyed the current #1 team of ODI cricket by 7 wickets with some good performances again from Hafeez, Younis Khan, and, Mohd Yousuf. However the most encouraging thing about the entire game was that all their bowlers got to bowl and they all (except for Shoaib Malik) got some good performances in.
Pakistan will be playing a wounded West Indies team that will be raring to wrong their critics and make up for their performance against India. Pakistan appears to be very weak on paper, but you never know with the Pakistanis. They are dark horses who can definitely play spoiler to some of the more fancied teams.
Key Players:
* Mohd Yousuf & Younis Khan - Both these players make up what is arguably the best middle order of any batting lineup in this World Cup. They are solid batsmen who can win matches and have shared some amazing partnerships. They are both coming off prolific years, esp Mohd Yousuf who has had his best year as a batsman in International Cricket. Both batsmen are vital to Pakistan's success given that the opening looks very shaky.
* Mohd Hafeez - Chosen at the 12th hour as a replacement for the very potent Abdul Razzaq, Hafeez has impressed so far with both bat and ball. He seems to bring much to the table. He may be a player to watch in this World Cup.
* Umar Gul - Gul's career has been wrecked by injury. However in his brief stints in International cricket he has impressed with his incisive bowling. He may not be first choice when Asif and Akhtar are available, but, he is Pakistan's main bowling hope right now. If Sami and the other bowlers bowl within themselves, Pakistan may well surprise many with their bowling.
* Shoaib Malik & Afridi & Danish Kaneria - The pitches on display at the Carribean so far have made everyone predict that teams with slow bowlers will prosper. If this is so then this trio could be potential match winners. However all three are very inconsistent bowling very well in one game and terribly in another. Much will depend on the all-round skills of Afridi and Shoaib Malik. If they play to their potential then Pakistan will be close to unbeatable. However they have been huge disappointments so far. Pakistani fans will be hoping that they will prove everyone wrong and lift their games for the World Cup.
My prediction:
Although Pakistan has played well so far, I find it difficult to believe that they will be able to display the kind of consistency required to make it to the semi-finals. However they will be a very dangerous team and will play spoiler to other teams' semi-final chances.
Much depends on the performances of the under-performing all rounders and middle order veterans. But I doubt it will be enough to get them through.
Team Talk - Australia
Team Talk - India
Team Talk - West Indies
1 comment:
You can't keep Inzi out of the key Pakistani players list. The thing about him is he goes about his business so quietly you never know when he's won you the game. Forget his form, I think he's still a dangerous batsman. I don't think Hafeez has been a 12th hour selection; in the recent past, he's been consistently opening for Pakistan and he bowls. He was always going to be selected. The Pakistani dark horse for me would be Imran Nazir, who bats like a tad neater version of Afridi, but with similar agression (sample his first innings against WI today : .6O). And with a few more innings to go in the WC still, I wouldn't be surprised if he shocks one or more of the top teams on the way.
Ofcourse, one can't say enough about the team's off-field issues.
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