As ever with Pakistan cricket, it’s been a rollercoaster of a ride since their Twenty20 victory last summer. A topsy-turvy Sri Lankan tour, a competitive but disappointing Champions Trophy, a grapple with New Zealand, a Twenty20 draw with England, a horror tour of Australia culminating in a Shahid Afridi brainfreeze, a number of political meddlings and a number of strict bans–the sad truth is that even as Pakistan won the 2009 edition there was always a chance of this soap operatic turn of events.
With boisterous Afridi leading, Pakistan will hope to continue their excellent Twenty20 record and try to keep some sort of a clinical gameplan to their infamous volatility. Their record in this format is impressive; they are the only team to make the semis and finals of both world tournaments so far, and it would be a disappointment if they missed out here.
Afridi’s explosive talents with bat and ball were usefully supplemented by the stingy off-spin of Saeed Ajmal and the superb reverse-swinging yorkers of Umar Gul, but the latter is missing out here in a format that his bowling is perfectly suited to. There was the usual to-do when it was rumoured–wrongly–that a towering rookie, seven-footer Muhammad Irfan, was to make his international debut as Gul’s replacement, only to see the youngster’s delight wilt as skiddy fast man Mohammad Sami and left-arm tweaker Abdur Rehman were confirmed as the new replacements, with Twenty20 veteran Yasir Arafat also missing out.
It’s a competitive squad, as long as they can keep their heads on. Mohammad Asif is one of the better fast-medium bowlers on the world scene, and famously took 4 for 17 against India in 2007. The lanky teenager Muhammad Aamer will be hoping to fulfil his promise as a left-arm quick, and he can hold a bat as well. Sami, still one of the world’s fastest bowlers, will hope to fulfil his long-sought promise, and Abdur Rehman, probably a second-choice spinner, is nonetheless very accurate and should be miserly. Ajmal and medium-pacer Abdul Razzaq are clever, thrifty operators while Kamran Akmal will be hoping to perform as well behind the stumps as he does in front of them.
Bits-and-pieces all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez, who despite a mediocre international record has made his case for Pakistan A, is a useful, versatile opener and a handy spinner. Salman Butt and Khalid Latif–one a stylish southpaw and the other a hard-hitting right-hander–will be hoping to address one half of Pakistan’s opening pair, while Misbah-ul-Haq and Fawad Alam are versatile middle-order operators with the more dashing Umar Akmal and Afridi. The lower-order is boosted by Abdul Razzaq and debuting all-rounder Hammad Azam, who starred in the U-19 World Cup in New Zealand a few months back.
Group: A, v Australia and Bangladesh
Watch out for: The obvious Afridi aside, Pakistan have a lethal all-rounder in Abdul Razzaq. His barrel-straight late hitting has boosted the lower order many times–most recently when he blasted five sixes in an 18-ball 46 against England–and a subtler asset is his unspectacular but accurate bowling, which bolstered Pakistan’s attack in 2009.
