Pakistan’s ODI and T20 skipper Shahid Afridi tipped his side to be one of the favourites for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.
“I strongly believe that Pakistan will be among the top contenders. There have been many controversies recently but we will leave them behind to concentrate on World Cup. We have good batting line up and talented bowlers. All of them are confident of good show,” the flamboyant all-rounder said from Karachi.
Afridi counted India as one of the strong contenders in the World Cup, to be held in sub-continent from February 19 next year.
“I think India, Pakistan, Australia and Sri Lanka will be in the semi-finals. India and Sri Lanka will face additional pressure as they will playing on home turf,” Afridi said.
He also praised the current Indian team under Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
“India is continuously playing well since Dhoni has taken over. The confidence level of the team is amazing and I think it will be an exciting contest,” said the veteran, who has scored 6371 runs in 303 ODIs for Pakistan.
Afridi said Sachin Tendulkar would be the batsman to watch in the elite ICC event.
“Sachin is an extra-ordinary player. His hunger for runs is growing by his age. He is playing since 20 years and it is his last World Cup. Naturally he wants to make it a memorable one. All teams need to be extra cautious against him and we are no exception. We will draw a specific strategy for Sachin and some other Indian batsmen,” he said.
Afridi also rued the fact they have lost the opportunity to play before the home fans in the prestigious tournament.
“This is a huge loss for Pakistan Cricket. Foreign teams are not playing here and it has definitely affected us. We cannot do anything in this matter. Thank god, we have enough international exposure prior to World Cup.”
He has multiple statements - in which the BEST is what CRICINFO also reported…that PAKISTAN IS NOT READY FOR the world cup…that is the most exact and succinct statement ever.
Pakistan is placed in Group A along with defending champions Australia, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Canada, New Zealand and Zimbabwe.
Pakistan's current batting is not good enough to win the world cup IMO. The batting is so inconsistent and unpredictable that any predictions about Pakistan's chances are premature. Sri Lanka look the strongest in group A. Pakistan must therefore beat both Australia (difficult but not impossible as Australia are clearly in decline) and NZ to qualify for the next stage. Aamer will be sorely missed but providing everyone is fit, Pakistan's bowling attack comprising Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Razzaq, Afridi and Ajmal/Abdul Rahman still looks ok
India's batting has a very settled look about it so much so that they can afford to rest Tendulkar, Dhoni and Sehwag and try some of the other players ahead of the world cup. The bowling could still prove to be the weak link, Bhajji can be very expensive, so too can both Sreesanth and Nehra. Zaheer is the only good bowler there. However ODIs are mainly won by batsmen and if their batters score enough runs, there is no reason not to believe that India can go all the way in the world cup
Pakistan is placed in Group A along with defending champions Australia, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Canada, New Zealand and Zimbabwe.
Pakistan's current batting is not good enough to win the world cup IMO. Sri Lanka look the strongest in group A. Pakistan must therefore beat both Australia (difficult but not impossible as Australia are clearly in decline) and NZ to qualify for the next stage. Aamer will be sorely missed but providing everyone is fit, Pakistan's bowling attack comprising Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Razzaq, Afridi and Ajmal/Abdul Rahman still looks ok
India's batting has a very settled look about it so much so that they can afford to rest Tendulkar, Dhoni and Sehwag and try some of the other players ahead of the world cup. The bowling could still prove to be weak link, Bhajji can be very expensive, so too can both Sreesanth and Nehra. Zaheer is the only good bowler there. However ODIs are mainly won by batsmen and if their batters score enough runs, there is no reason not to believe that India can go all the way in the world cup
Asif,
Are we keeping in mind that these matches will be in the subcontinent? Kiwis and Ozs both will have to work hard in these conditions. So Pakistan has a very good chance so long as the ODI batting line up gels together in the next NZ tour and can come up with a robust batting order where each player understands his role.
The batting is the key. The conditions they are likely to encounter in NZ are vastly different from those in the subcontinent, so not sure how useful that experience is going to be esp. if the batters fail to perform collectively in the swing and seam conditions of NZ.
With Kamran Akmal not selected for the tour, who is going to partner Shahzaib for instance in NZ? The world cup is just 2 months away and we do not even have a settled opening pair!! Talk about bad preparation..
Shahzaib
???/? Younis Khan
Umar Akmal/? Asad Shafiq
Misbah
Afridi
Razzaq
wicket-keeper???/? Adnan Akmal (batting is nothing special)/ will they play Umar Akmal as wk-batsman?
Wahab Riaz
Umar Gul
Shoaib Akhtar (Oh I forgot about him!!)
Ajmal/Abdul Rahman (I would prefer Abdul Rahman because he can bat as well)
Pakistan is placed in Group A along with defending champions Australia, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Canada, New Zealand and Zimbabwe.
Pakistan's current batting is not good enough to win the world cup IMO. The batting is so inconsistent and unpredictable that any predictions about Pakistan's chances are premature. Sri Lanka look the strongest in group A. Pakistan must therefore beat both Australia (difficult but not impossible as Australia are clearly in decline) and NZ to qualify for the next stage. Aamer will be sorely missed but providing everyone is fit, Pakistan's bowling attack comprising Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Razzaq, Afridi and Ajmal/Abdul Rahman still looks ok
Asif, four teams from the two pools will go to the quarterfinal stage. Therefore Pakistan doesn't have to beat Australia and Nz to reach quarters. Beating Kenya, Zimbabwe and Canada should be enough :)
There is no super 8 stage Ehsan bhai as per fkhan2. The world cup format is actually very bad IMO. A team might win all of their 6 pool games and top their respective group convincingly >> have one bad game (i.e. QF) and go out of the world cup. That is a bit like soccer World Cup...
This would also mean teams resting their key players for QF after winning 3-4 group games i.e. teams not quite motivated enough to win their last 2 group games. Is that something we want to see in a world cup?
There is no super 8 stage Ehsan bhai as per fkhan2. The world cup format is actually very bad IMO. A team might win all of their 6 pool games and top their respective group convincingly >> have one bad game (i.e. QF) and go out of the world cup. That is a bit like soccer World Cup...
OK in that case I would like to meet India in QF. I know they have a strong batting line up, but Pakistan normally go one or two gears up when they play India, so that will be a cracking match. Also the jinx of not beating them in major tournaments has now gone.
A much better format IMO would be 16 teams divided into four groups A-D i.e. two heavy weights + 2 lighter teams in each group
Group stage: 3 games for each team
v
Second Round: 2 games for each team
Group E: Top 2 teams in group A vs Top 2 Teams in Group B >> Top 2 qualify for SF
Group F: Top 2 in Group C vs Top 2 in Group D >> Top 2 qualify for SF
v
Semi Finals
Group E1 vs Group F2
Group E2 vs Group F1
v
Final
3 (Group stage) + 2 (second round) + SF + Final or 7 games in all for the eventual finalists (cf. Soccer World Cup)
i.e. you play fewer games but every single game counts (unlike the present format where group games become meaningless once you have won 3-4 games!!!) incl. games against lighter teams in group stages
