Talking about the winning chances of Pakistan in the upcoming mega event of ICC Cricket World Cup 2011; just seems to be insane in the scenario and standing where the Pakistan cricket is right now. Terrorism hurt Pakistan cricket due to which Pakistan lost the world cup co-hosting rights and deprived cricket fans from the live cricket in stadiums; and last but not the least spot-fixing saga proved to be the tsunami for Pakistan cricket.
Pakistan cricket team is currently touring New Zealand, certainly the last expedition before the world cup, where they are scheduled to play two Tests, three Twent20s and six ODIs. It has been almost 2 years, since Pakistan last won an ODI series. Their last win came as a 3-0 whitewash of the West Indies in 2008. It is no surprise that most cricketing experts are ruling Pakistan out, for presenting any real challenge in the coming ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 to be co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. However, if we peep through history and keep in view the “unpredictability”, the sole quality associated with Pakistan cricket since decades, it can be said that it might be too soon to pass such judgments.
The so-called cricket guru’s are not ready to give any chance to Pakistan because of their reliance on individual brilliance rather than the teamwork on the filed. Arguing this theory they present the example of world cup 1992, when Pakistan won its maiden ODI World Cup title, it was a blistering knock by then-young Inzamam-ul-Haq, in the semi final against New Zealand, which took Pakistan through to the final. Then in final match great Wasim Akram came into action to abolish England’s hope of becoming a world champion of the sport originated from their soil.
In the 2009 T20 World Cup, it was Shahid Afridi, whose killing bowling attacks led Pakistan to victory in the semi final against South Africa and the final with Sri Lanka as well. Early in the tournament, when Shahid Afridi was not doing that great, Umar Gul’s threatening swinging deliveries made life hell for the batsmen of all oppositions.
Pakistan still has such brilliant individuals who can single-handedly turn a game on its head. First of all, ‘Boom Boom’ Afridi has already established in the 2009 T20 tournament that he can be a match winner when the chances are almost nowhere. Secondly, Abdul Razzaq’s ability to smash any bowling attack in the death overs is just unmatched. In the line of young guns Umar Akmal, still has a long way to go in his career, has exhibited exceptional batting skills.
Bowling department will be led by the 35-year-old Shoaib Akhtar, who might have shortened his terrifying bowling run up, but he has proved in recent past that he can still penetrate with bowling around about the 95-mile mark. Umar Gul will also try to hunt the form to reproduce the performance he displayed in the 2009 T20 world Cup. Off-colour Saeed Ajmal, who has not been in good form of late, will surely come in handy on the World Cup pitches, which are expected to suit spin bowling. Even though Ajmal is not a big turner of the ball, his ‘doosra’ has troubled most batsmen who have faced him.
It is a fact that whenever Pakistan managed to rose a bit from nowhere they didn’t end up without touching the peak. Keep in sight the examples of the 1992 and 2009 tournaments. In 1992, Imran Khan was probably the only person who believed that Pakistan could go on and become champions. Pakistan came into the 2009 tournament as one of the favourites, but after a miserable start, the team’s chances started being questioned. However, Pakistan went on to win both the competitions.
On the other hand, Pakistan has failed to qualify for the second round of matches in its previous two world cups; in 2003 under Waqar Younis and in 2007 under Inzamam-ul-Haq. Pakistan’s performance in the coming world cup is important for the revival of cricket in Pakistan; while a gloomy performance in this campaign will hamper Pakistan cricket immensely, which has yet to recover from spot-fixing scandals and internal politics in the Pakistan Cricket Board.
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