Daily Times

Pakistan will be needing lady luck on their side and an aggressive and professional approach when they start their World Cup campaign against the West Indies at Nottingham on Friday (today). The side have only won the showpiece 50-over tournament once – under the captaincy of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in 1992. They even came very close to winning the mega event in 1999, under the captaincy of Wasim Akram, but lost the final against Australia at the Lord’s. They have been semi-finalists four times (1979, 1983, 1987 and 2011) and have also reached the quarter-finals twice (1996 and 2015). The road to the 2019 World Cup for Pakistan has been paved with defeats. They first got whitewashed in a home series against Australia and then lost a series four-nil to England away. They were also defeated by minnows Afghanistan by three wickets in a World Cup warm-up game at Bristol while their second and last warm-up against Bangladesh at Southampton was washed out. Afghanistan have been tipped as a giant-killer in this World Cup, but given the relative ease with which they defeated Pakistan in their first warm-up game, it seems that they will slay more giants than one. Afghanistan had never played a proper match in England before — just a friendly one-dayer against MCC — yet they held the upper hand and never looked like failing to chase 263. Their victory against Pakistan maintains the most astonishing rise cricket has ever seen, for a country which had no cricket ground or team 20 years ago.

Before the World Cup, Pakistan’s fortunes plummeted to new lows. While the batsmen consistently raked up scores, which astonished critics and fans alike, on flat English tracks, the bowlers just couldn’t put up a fight. Pakistan’s bowling, always considered lethal, has been toothless, clueless and impotent in the matches before the World Cup. Bowling – the team’s forte for decades – is not only showing signs of deterioration but is lacking in aggression and venom. At the same time, Pakistan’s fielding has also not been up to the mark, which can be a massive difference between the contesting sides. To have an upper hand against other teams in the World Cup lies in a united front, where the bowlers can bowl tight lines and the fielders make sure to not spill chances and stop easy-runs to put pressure on the opposition.

In an era of big bats and big scores, wicket-taking is going to play a crucial role in deciding this World Cup. Despite the modern gung-ho batting style, this is not an easy contract to fulfill when the tournament reaches the knockout stage. The team that consistently takes wickets — particularly through the middle overs — is the one most likely to lift the trophy. The best balanced attacks would likely come to the fore from England, India, Australia and South Africa while the Pakistan bowling would likely to struggle. Many critics are unanimous in their opinion that Pakistan qualifying for the knockouts would be a big surprise.

Their 1992 World Cup triumph and World Twenty20 title in 2009 also came against the odds. They just cannot be predicted. They’re haphazard and erratic and when they’re on a roll, they can steamroll all – and when they’re in the meltdown mode, they collapse like a house of cards. One cannot and should not expect consistency from Pakistan, because their volatile nature of play is what makes them one of the most interesting teams in the world: hardest to defeat, easiest to down, both at the same time

The England ODI series showed that the hosts have an outstanding chance to lift the World Cup on home soil, having built a squad full of proven match winners. England enter the tournament as one of the most consistent teams in the format. Since their shock group-stage exit from the 2015 World Cup, England have not only rectified their approach but been particularly strong at home. Since the start of last year, England have come out on top in bilateral ODI series against World Cup holders Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and India. There are match winners throughout the squad, there are batsmen that can win games on their own, and over the last six or eight months their bowling has improved tremendously. Having home advantage could also be influential after Australia won the tournament as co-hosts in 2015 and India did the same in 2011.

Pakistan are pinning their hopes for World Cup glory on a crop of youngsters who have the potential and talent to beat anybody but at the same time can be very unpredictable like a club team. Facing an uphill task against their rivals in the World Cup, Pakistan will be needing a true grit. Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman and Imamul Haq have been scoring heavily for Pakistan and there is no reason why they can’t keep churning out big runs at the World Cup. The experienced trio of Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez and captain Sarfraz Ahmed give solidity to the batting while Haris Sohail is a useful player. Pakistan batting would be confident of getting big totals.

But with below par bowling and fielding performances, Sarfraz and his men need a plenty of hard work if they are to seriously challenge teams of England’s ilk at the World Cup. Bowlers Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Husnain, Imad Wasim and Shadab Khan need to shape up and must pull up their socks to give match winning performances. Fielding has always been Pakistan’s Achilles heel. The World Cup is featuring teams who will be merciless as far as capitalising on fielding mistakes is concerned. If Pakistan doesn’t get their fielding act together, they will find it really hard to compete with other teams during the event.

With the unpredictability tag, Pakistan can be among the top four but could also easily lose to weaker teams if things do not go their way. And fans just relish Pakistan’s fluctuating moods. Never was their Jekyll and Hyde character more clearly shown than at the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy in England, where they were crushed by 124 runs by India in their opening match but hit back to beat their fierce rivals by 180 runs in the final. Their 1992 World Cup triumph and World Twenty20 title in 2009 also came against the odds. They just cannot be predicted. They’re haphazard and erratic and when they’re on a roll, they can steamroll all – and when they’re in the meltdown mode, they collapse like a house of cards. One cannot and should not expect consistency from Pakistan, because their volatile nature of play is what makes them one of the most interesting teams in the world: hardest to defeat, easiest to down, both at the same time!