World Cup Series -- Team Pakistan

If there is something that is consistent about any of the Pakistan cricket teams, it is their ability to be consistently inconsistent. With Akthar & Asif found 'unfit' for the world cup, it will be a Herculean task for this team to make it to the semifinals stage. With the services of Abdul Razzaq also being not available, only a miracle would be able to pull this team towards its second world cup triumph. All said & done, expect this team to pull some great upsets during the 'Super 8' stage as they could be monster slayers when they decide to work as a team. (Well, 'assuming' that they decide to work as a team)

Strengths:
1) Their 'Super' sized ego
2) ???? (If you find something else, please let me know)

Weaknesses:
1) Inability to work as a team
2) Absence of Asif, Akthar & Razzaq
3) Shoddy fielding

Position after Super 8 stage:
7(Seven)

The squad:

Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Azhar Mahmood, Danish Kaneria, Imran Nazir, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Yousuf, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Rao Ifitkhar Anjum, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Umar Gul, Yasir Arafat, Younis Khan

Expert Speaks: Vamsi's Take

Team Inconsistent!!

Of all the balls bowled by Shoaib Akhtar, two will always be etched in the memory of all cricketing folks around the world. The first one is in the 1999 world cup semi-final against New Zealand where in-set Stephen Flemming is cleaned up by a beauty, sending his off-stump sailing all the way to the keeper. All the players including Flemming himself were stunned by the pace of the delivery, and the chances for New Zealand slowly slippped away in that match. The second one is in the 2003 world cup league match against India, wherein a pumped up Akhtar was given the second over of the match and the third ball disappeared over the fence over third man for six. The momentum given by the Indians, in particular by Sachin, in that over changed the complexion of the match and what should have been a tough chase ended up to be a walk in the park. This is the story of the Pakistan team in all. Though the example quoted above shows matches that are 4 years apart, this team was and is capable of coming up with such a contrasting performance two matches in a row. Who would have thought, that a team ends up in the final of one of the most gripping world cups of recent times, would lose to Bangladesh in the league stage.

The Pakistan teams of 1992 and 1999 were well-balanced, as is always the case with any of their other world cup teams. They always tend to find the right balance of batsmen, bowlers and all-rounders, who can win the match from any situation. But what really worked for them during these two world cups in particular was the build-up leading to it. On both occasions they had good series at home and away and they gelled as a unit by the time the world cup was near. Comparing either of these with the outfit of 2003, the morale of the team was at a low following some disastrous tours prior to the start and some insipid interest of the politicians in playing with the team composition. The result, they crashed out of the world cup without making it to the super sixes. Another important note is the discipline of the team members. Most of the cricketers in the team considered their presence itself in the middle should be reason enough to win the match and never went on to put some effort in actually working towards it. Consistent players end up delivering the goods and are always feared because of their uncanny ability to do their basics right at any given situation, and that comes more out of practice. These were the kind of lessons that the Akhtars, Akrams and Waqars of the 2003 squad realized, albeit too late.

The good part for Pakistan now is that now they have a team that is not only well-balanced, but also has the discipline among its players that was definetely lacking at one point. The team has long realized that even without the services of "superstars", they can still come up with decent and consistent performances as long as the players are willing to take up the responsibility. Inzamam has been able to nurture his young squad with effect for quite sometime now and is also known for shaping up the careers of some promising your players like Imran Farhat, Mohammed Asif and Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan. And then he has the ever-reliable Mohammed Yousuf in the middle order who's been scoring runs by the mountains. The form of the captain himself has been commendable for the past few years now and ofcourse, it is a well known fact that it was the big stage of world cup 1992 that Inzamam powerfully announced his entry into the arena of cricketing greats.

So where does Pakistan stand in its chances of winning its second world cup? Lets verify each department. In batting, they have troubles at the top of their order, but the middle order seems to have settled in quite well with Inzamam, Younis Khan and Mohammed Yousuf providing them the stability and acceleration. They have a promising wicket-keeper in Kamran Akmal, who's shown the maturity of a middle order batsman but can also use the long handle very well. And then they have the belters - Afridi and Azhar Mehmood. Razzaq could have done some wonders for Pakistan in this department had he not joined the long list of injured players, but then Azhar Mehmood is also known to weild the long handle well. Their inexperienced bowling attack will be put to test in this series, and the doping charges/injuries to both Shoaib and Asif will definetely dent that department. But the conditions under which their back-up bowling has been tested are similar to those that will be found in the WI, and if the nature of the pitches are any close to those found in the sub-continent, their bowling might just click.

Does this mean this team has the ability to go all the way? The answer is a yes and no. This by far forms the beauty of unpredictable teams. Their build up to this year's world cup has been nothing less dramatic. From the brewing politics within the team to doping charges, from forcibly forfeiting test matches to puppet captains, the whole team has been in the hot seat for its histronics off the field than on it. And the prospect of winning against their neighbors has always put the team in a positive note, but unfortunately their last home series against the Indians was another disastrous drubbing that forced some more changes in the team composition. Just said all this, they just might surprise enough teams with consistent performances through the league stage, that might get them a good standing in the super 8. And then, one man's gain has to come at the loss of another, so if the other teams are to lose some ground somewhere during the league stage, Pakistan might just eke itself into the semi-finals. At this stage though, it appears to be a very long shot!!