Clinical Performance against the minnows

Pakistan registered its first victory in the World Cup 2003, by crushing Namibia, and finally made their presence felt on the points table. The margin of victory was also quite impressive and that will do the net run rate a great deal of good. Even though the victory may not be regarded as a major accomplishment, since Pakistan was always expected to stroll through the encounter, it was satisfying to see that the team spirit had not been totally damaged by the loss against the Aussies. While the team needs a certain degree of praise for their performance, the true tests for Pakistan lie ahead in the encounters against England and India. Thus, it would be premature to say that Pakistan are right back on track, at this moment.

The best thing to come out of this match for the team is that they finally managed to get the team combination right. This set of eleven players should be the side that Pakistan must play in all their main matches, barring any injuries. Even though some may still be concerned that Pakistan are going in with only five regular bowlers, the inclusion of an all-rounder in either Afridi or Azhar Mahmood would upset the team balance. The current team consists of five specialist batsmen and five specialist bowlers, and that seems to be a better bet than going in with bits and pieces who cannot stamp their authority in either department.

The first thing to analyse though is the batting performance, which was not quite upto par. The total of 255 was not very impressive considering it was against an exceptionally weak bowling attack. The second major concern was that once again most top order batsmen got starts but failed to convert them into big scores. The batsmen looked tentative, and the knocks lacked fluency. Saleem Elahi scratched is way to an unimpressive 63 while Youhana looked off colour in his innings as well. Saeed Anwar finally got an outing in the international arena, and looked to be in reasonably good touch before playing a characteristically loose shot. Inzamam though continues to remain a worry, and Pakistan desperately needs him to get out of his current slump in form.

The batting order though, in my opinion, has not been properly established. Sending Younis Khan in at number three is not the right way to go, in my opinion, as Youhana gets demoted and doesn't get a chance to play a proper innings. Youhana on current form is the best batsman in the side and deserves to come in at number three, which is unarguably the most crucial position in the batting order.

The bowling on the other hand was brilliant. The Namibians were completely overawed by exceptional pace of Shoaib and the guile of the experienced Wasim Akram. The efforts of Akram in the tournament so far deserve special praise. He had single handedly put Pakistan in a winning position against Australia, which was unfortunately not capitalized on, and he showed his class against Namibia as well. His efforts with the bat also clearly indicate that he is desperate to make a mark on the international scene before he retires.

However it would be inappropriate to start praising the Pakistan side excessively on the basis of their performance against Namibia, very much the minnows of international cricket. This match was only a workout meant to get back on track for the real challenges ahead.

With England having forfeited their match against Zimbabwe, the fight for second and third place after Australia is very much on. Zimbabwe have a realistic hope of making it through to the Super Six, which means that Pakistan might have to win both their encounters against England and India to secure a place in the next round. The team combination is perfect and it is just a question of the players delivering at the right time in the crucial matches. The team spirit looks to be good, a huge relief for the fans after much speculation in the media regarding rifts in the side after their first loss.

Ed: If readers wish to correspond with the author, please email Taha Noor