Pakistan: Cricket World Cup

australia, new zealand, south africa, pakistan in the semis..........as the pitches will suit pakistan and india (and west indies).........aus and south africa in finals.......and australia wins it..........

.......india has the strongest batting line up in the world now, with the return in form of sauruv ganguly, for such pitches........and assuming sehwag also performs again......however, the problem with india is that there whole bowling line-up can be hit for a lot of runs on such pitches.......so india will have to score 300+ regularly to win.....

.......if gul, asif and shoaib are fit, then pakistan will have the strongest bowling attack in the world for those pitches.....however, the batting will collapse, about 1/3rd of the time, even on flat pitches.......which means, they will win one or two unexpected games, but will not be able to win it all..........

.........Pakistan should have the following batting order........whenever the openers get a decent partnership, and see off the new ball, the team does well.......however, it seems like none of the top players are interested in taking up the opening slot.......other than saeed anwar, that has always been the case, i.e. the top players automatically drift to the safe 4 and 5 positions (miandad, zaheer, salim, inzamam, yusuf, etc.)....all at the safe 4 and 5 positions, where they can get a lot of runs.......

.......i think yonis is the only one who will take on the challenge....he should open.....he opens anyways, as the openers generally lose their wicket early......he has the best defence in the team and the most stamina..........shoaib malik is the best no. 3 pakistan has had in a long time, in ODIs.......his average is the highest as no. 3....significantly higher than yonis`s in ODIs.....pakistan was winning when shoaib was in no. 3.........however he was moved to 6 to make room for yonis, who hasn`t done as well as shoaib........statistically speaking, shoaib malik has the highest contribution % wise in the pakistan team (batting/bowling/fielding)........

.........the first five batsmen should bat normally or rather slowly, and save wickets......akmal, razzaq and afridi should be the accelerators.....pakistan should target consistently 150 to 200 for 4 in 40 overs (depending on the pitch)........and then target 75 to 100 runs in the last 10 overs...........

yonis khan
imran nazir
shoaib malik
yosuf
inzamam
kamran malik
razzaq
afridi
shoaib akhtar
umar gul
asif

extras (yasir hameed, rana naveed, danish kaneria)

#28 by ijaz_gul

Ijaz, you do have valid points, but due to the sheer talent they possess, I wouldn`t rule out Pakistan`s chances entirely.

#29 by HisExcellency, #30 by CheGuevara, #31 by hasanmahmood

Folks, all said and done, the Paki Cricket team is an enigma and capable of pulling off surprises just about when everyone has given up hope. The `92 team, was full of teething problems (as the Paki team always is), yet they surprised everyone including themselves by winning the WC. Of course, Imran`s inspirational leadership and Javed`s experience were definitely major factors, but with such a talented bunch of youngsters, anything can happen.

I think you guys are being a bit too harsh on Inzi; the man has served Paki cricket well for the past decade and a half, and of all people, he would surely want to win the WC to leave his mark on Paki cricket history.

Don`t expect (just hope for!) Pakistan to win the WC, but don`t despair either. Pakistan is ranked 3rd (or is it 5th?) in ODIs and there is a reason why it is there.

hasanmahmood #31: ``For Inzi it is more important that people call kaneria - Danish (a muslim name) when his real name is Danesh (he is a hindu - people).``

...his name is danish and not danesh......i read his interview where he stated, his name was given to him by a friend of his father`s, who was a muslim........and he decided to keep it.......

Inzi is more interested in converting Sachin to Suleman than in winning the world cup. I agree with the author on some points but none of the opening batsmen are talented and besides Asif and Shoaib, no fast bowler is even good enough to play English County Cricket. Can anyone tell me why Wasim Bari was chosen again to be the selector when he failed miserable in the last world cup. How come all these so-called pundits and reporters never screamed about him being back. He destroyed Pakistan`s team and now ``Inzimam the Holiest`` is doing the same thing.
For Inzi it is more important that people call kaneria - Danish (a muslim name) when his real name is Danesh (he is a hindu - people).
I am glad women cannot grow beards, otherwise our team would consist of Inzimam, Yusuf, and 9 ladies (they might still be better than ``happy feet`` Yunis look-at-me-I-cannot-play-fast-bowling-outside-the-off-stump Khan and our please-let-me-chase-every-bowl-outside-the-off-stumps-even-if-it-is-wide openers).

I used to think Inzamam was the only reasonable choice for captaincy, but after seeing the way he used Mohammed Aasif during the South Africa series (bowling him for 10 overs straight) and his removal of Waqar as bowling coach (the guy who was instrumental in Umer Guls recent form) I`m not sure he`s the right guy anymore and I doubt we`ll win it this time.

#16 by okhla99

India should easily reach the semifinals because WI pitches will suit their batting. In fact, I expect India to win all their group games and Super Eights matches. Australia and South Africa are also likely to cruise into the semis. They`ll probably end up No.2 or No.3 in the points tally.

There is going to be a 3-way contest for the 4th semifinalist. Pakistan should snag this spot by beating West Indies and England in the group/Super Eight stage. (NZ and SL don`t look good at all).

Likely semifinals: India v Pakistan, Australia v South Africa

harish,
We as simple audience and supporters tend to see everything in Black and White. There are seven basic colours to a rainbow and blending makes scores more. Cricket in Pakistan is no more a gentleman`s game. It all about power, deciet, upmanship, nepotism, greed and most money. Thats the name of the game but its a reality. The squad of 15 as announced will change to a very different combination. I have a feeling that both Shoaib and Asif will become medically unfit and be replaced. If Asif had a very bad elbow, then why did he play the fifth ODI. This will be taken as an excuse for an aggravated injury.
Just wait for the TAMASHA.
I pray I am wrong.

A comedy TV program called 4 man show televised by the channel Aaj floated a news item about Rana Naveed ul Hasan in which the news caster toled the audience that Rana Naveed has been awarded with a star of Honour and that star will be stamped on his head with nails....lols

#23 by ijaz_gul

Did someone see the team performance today, and promotion of Kamran Akmal in the batting.

Indeed, the Paki cricket team is an enigma. Just the other day, Afridi clobbered the life out of the SA bowlers and now this!

Pakistan`s preparations for the World Cup are in shambles due to a variety of reasons.
One reason being this obsession with just preparing for or winning the World Cup. This is akin to asking Tiger Woods or Roger Federer to just win the Master`s or Wimbledon and forget about the rest of the tour! What is needed is a coherent strategy for the team to be consistently world class. I wrote a review on the chronic issues of unprofessionalism in the Pakistan team which is posted online here:

http://pakistaniat.com/2007/02/14/pakistan-cricket-team-world-cup-2007-professionalism-chances-west-indies/#more-571

Did someone see the team performance today, and promotion of Kamran Akmal in the batting.

Re: # 23
Pak team did not want to play new ball, they always want to see it off.
Akmal was promoted to see of new ball for great middle order.
today Pak won the toss and tried to get some confidence in batting otherwise they would bowl first.
Anyways SA is a real competitor so they are up on their soul and WI tracks may behave differently for different teams.

Harish,

My hobby is bird watching (feathered kind). Why do your posts remind me of the famous indian bird ``CUTIA CUTIA`` ?? Google for photo of the bird and check if there is any resemblance.

PS: I saw Afridi`s innings where he scored 77 off 35 balls against South Africa and boy did it warm my cockles!

#16 by okhla99

You can root for India but there is no need to forecast gloom for Pakistan. Our team is quite strong and, on its day, can easily demolish any other team.

Yaar Okhla, why do you Pakis go into the defensive mode almost as a reflex? Haven`t you read my earlier posts on this board? Let me repeat it again: I`ll be as glad if Pakistan wins the WC as I would be if India does.