Pakistan - dangerous smoking gun
Lahore, 21st March 2011
Pakistan emerged on top of Group A after beating Australia by 4 wickets - the cup holders first loss since 1999.
After a shock 110 run drubbing at the hands of the Kiwis, Pakistan impressed with a 7 wicket win over Zimbabwe - before putting away Australia.
Youngsters Asad Shafiq and Umar Akmal are hitting form at the correct time. Veterans Misbah and Younis have fired when required. Hafeez has been a revelation with the balls but needs runs at the top of the order. Umar Gul and Abdul Rehman have been tight. Shahid Afridi has led the team well and is taken crucial wickets. Even Kamran Akmal is holding onto simple catches.
The Pakistani's can definitely go all the way if their batting and fielding are consistent over the 3 knockout games. As always, match fixing allegations are never far away from even this revamped Pakistani team looking to all the way and emulate their past success in 1992.
Karachi, 6th Mar 2011
Pakistan are looking good and sitting on top of Group A with an unbeaten record of 3 wins in 3 games. Shahid Afridi has re-discovered his mojo with the ball and has been in devastating form after hauls of 5-16 against Kenya, and 5-23 in their 46 run win over Canada. The batting is in good shape with Kamran Akmal, Younis Khan, Misbah Ul Haq and Umar Akmal all having innings of substance. The only concern is that none of the top order has converted good scores into a century - and this may come back to bite Pakistan if not rectified ahead of the knockout stages.
In the game against lowly ranked Canada, Pakistan were bowled out for just 184 in 43 overs prompting skipper Shahid Afridi to state that this was a "good wake up call".
Colombo, 27 Feb 2011
Pakistan secured a narrow 11 run win over the fancied Sri Lankans in a tense and entertaining game. Veterans Misbah and Younis laid the platform for a good score when they put on 108 runs. A late demise in the scoring rate, loss of wickets and tight bowling from Sri Lanka left Pakistan a bit short at 277-7 when they were looking good to score well over 300 at the 40th over mark.
Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Akhtar struck at the correct moments to leave Sri Lanka struggling mid innings at 96-4. Several missed stumpings, a dropped catch and no balls plagued the Pakistani's and allowed Sri Lanka a whiff of an unlikely win which eventually went down to the last over. The Pakistani's are never far from controversy and Umar Akmal was spoken to by the umpire for stamping on the pitch.
Preview of Pakistan
Lahore, 11 Feb 2011
Predicted win odds: 65%
Pakistan have a talented and young squad of players with recent form and promise. They are well led by the mercurial Shahid Afridi and coached by the respected Waqar Younis. Can they shed recent infighting and match fixing allegations to win the cup again after raising it against the odds in 1992. They had a sudden exit in 2007 in Round 1 – and shortly afterwards had the shock of losing their coach Bob Woolmer to a heart attack amidst match fixing allegations. They have a good World Cup win-loss record of 30-24, with 2 no results.
Strengths: Strong top order led by Younis Khan. Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq add firepower in the middle order to rival any team. Pakistan also have several canny spinners in Ajmal and Rehman, plus several paceman who can reverse swing the ball in Umar Gul and Wahab Riaz.
Weaknesses: Former skipper Salman Butt and pacemen Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir have just been banned by the ICC for a minimum of five years after being found guilty in a spot-fixing scandal. The fielding is prone to being inept at best. An ageing Shoiab Akhtar may not have the cutting edge to lead the pace attack, and sudden batting collapses are a few of the recent blights on Pakistani ODI cricket in recent times.
Pakistan World Cup squad: Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Kamran Akmal, Younus Khan, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Rehman, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Wahab Riaz, Umar Gul, Sohail Tanvir
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