lots of big words around. I hope they can all live upto their words and really show some performance.
These poeple are really confident.....we havent seen such statements from any other team.....lets hope they perform that way too!
**Wasim hopes for “memorable swansong” 03/02/03
Pak legend to “target everybody”
Pakistan fast bowling legend Wasim Akram hopes that his fifth World Cup appearance will yield the ultimate and final prize of his distinguished career.
“I have gone through many trials and tribulations and now wish to win the Cup for Pakistan to have a memorable swansong in the game I love the most,” Wasim told AFP.
The seamer made his ODI debut in November 1984 as a 18-year-old and now stands alone at the head of the ODI wicket-taking list with 490 behind his name. Waqar Younis is second on the list, with 409.
In his 21-year career he has won the World Cup for Pakistan and captained the team, but has also been embroiled in match fixing scandals and political in-fighting.
“Everybody tried and tested me with court hearings and inquiries,” said Wasim of the match fixing scandal.
“But I was cleared and now want to show the world I can help Pakistan win the Cup one more time.” he added.
Wasim played his first World Cup in 1987 where Pakistan, one of the favourites then as they are this year again, were knocked out at the semi-final stage by Australia.
“That was my first World Cup and everyone tipped us to win, but thank God we finally did that in Australia in 1992,” he said.
“Winning the World Cup is the ultimate and that was definitely the most memorable moment of my life,” said Akram.
Pakistan endured a rocky 2002 and would in normal circumstances be long odds for the 2003 World Cup. However, they are a team noted for their extreme unpredictability and a second title is by no means beyond them.
“Beware Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist, I am going to target everyone,” Wasim warned.
**
Saeed Anwar: Complacency will be our biggest enemy](http://uk.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/CRICKET_NEWS/2003/FEB/132627_PAK_04FEB2003.html)
JOHANNESBURG (South Africa), February 4: Charismatic opener Saeed Anwar believes complacency would be Pakistan’s biggest enemy in the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup that begins February 9.
“We have a great team and have all the tools to win the World Cup. But we can’t afford to be complacent. We will have to realize that to win this tournament, we have to play our best cricket, take every game seriously and play the hardest cricket we can,” Saeed said on Tuesday.
The left-hander added: “We didn’t take Bangladesh seriously in 1999 and lost, and after our 2-1 win in Australia (last year), we got complacent and had to suffer. But I think these are examples from which we can learn and try not to repeat them.”
Saeed, a former captain, will be playing in his third World Cup. His performance in cricket’s most prestigious tournament has been brilliant as he averages 53.61 from 16 matches, including two centuries and three half centuries.
"Every team will come full guns blazing in this tournament. We have to keep ourselves cool, united and focused. And when we play as a team, we are most dangerous team. We are dangerous at the moment because we are closely knit and very focused.
"The best part of this team is that despite being on the receiving end in the last few months, I haven’t seen the boys down or dejected. In fact, all the players are geared up, motivated and rearing to go.
“In this background, I think only the fools would rule us out,” he said.
Saeed said the Pakistan team needed one good win to get into the gear and if that (win) comes against Australia, the Pakistan team would be unstoppable.
"Australia, arguably, are the best team today. If we beat them, we will be inshallah in top gear by the time we face India. The match against India is eagerly awaited and though we haven’t beaten them in World Cup, we enjoyed excellent success rate against them in the recent past.
“But the key to our success has to be fit fast bowlers. In Shoaib Akhtar, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, we have strike bowlers who are very hot to handle. India has shown vulnerability against quality fast bowling and I think our threesome will just knock them over if they are in form and rhythm,” he said.
Asked if he would like to pinpoint one player whom he thinks would play the decisive role for Pakistan, Saeed said: "I think we have the highest number of match-winners than any team. The boys have single-handedly won games for Pakistan in the past. But now, we have to put those performances together to produce the best results.
“At times having such a world class team is also a problems. Here I must appreciate and admire Waqar Younis who played with a depleted team in the past few months and didn’t give up. Had I been in his place, I would have thrown in the towel.”
Saeed observed that Pakistan had 11 players who had played in the 1999 World Cup. “But I don’t remember if we have played together in the recent past. Some players were always missing for one reason or the other. But now we are together, helped by some exciting newcomers and inshallah results would be positive.”
Saeed said he was personally very motivated for the World Cup. He said had he not considered himself to be able to deliver in the World Cup, he would never have come here.
“I had lost appetite for cricket because of injuries, lack of form and death of my daughter. I had thought to retire but then the teammates, family members and friends convinced me to carry on. I think there is more motivation than it has been before because it is a World Cup and a great honour for any sportsman to represent his country in three World Cups.”
Saeed urged the followers of the game to stay positive.
"The nation is sensitive because their only hopes now are in cricket team. At times our victories don’t get the credit and appreciation we deserve. But one defeat starts speculations. If you have to reach a wrong conclusion, then you start to speculate. Unfortunately, that has happened in the past with talks of infighting, dissent, groupings etc etc and these all generate after we lose a match or a series.
“This team is a very closely knit family where every player cares for the other. The boys are determined to do well and inshallah we will by the help of Almighty,” he said.
KARACHI, Feb 3: Pakistan skipper and ace fast bowler Waqar Younis craves for a “cup full of joy” in South Africa after having had nightmarish experiences in previous World Cups.
“I have never had a good World Cup and that’s why I seek a Cup full of joy, for my team and for myself so that I can savour it when I retire from cricket,” said Waqar, apparently playing his last World Cup.
The 31-year-old, known as ‘Burewala Bombshell’ for his skill to produce wicket-taking deliveries on any surface, is the second-highest wicket-taker with 409 in 256 one-dayers.
Only compatriot Wasim Akram is ahead of him with 490 scalps in 350 matches, but Waqar has rarely tasted success in his previous three appearances in the biggest one-day event.
He was considered Pakistan’s main weapon in the 1992 World Cup in Australia, but returned home in tears without playing a match due to injury. “Not being able to play the 1992 World Cup was the biggest disappointment of my career. It was like the end of the world,” recalled Waqar, who was soon to gain international fame for his toe-crushing yorkers.
Ironically, Waqar’s disappointment coincided with his nation’s most memorable moment as an Imran Khan-inspired Pakistan whipped England in the final for their only World Cup triumph.
The 1996 World Cup also was jinxed for one of the most talented Pakistani pacemen as Waqar conceded 22 runs in his penultimate over to free-stroking Indian batsman Ajay Jadeja.
Waqar’s expensive over proved crucial as Pakistan went on to lose the tense quarter-final to their arch-rivals by 39 runs at Bangalore. “That was one of those days when I couldn’t control the aggression, but we could still have won the game had the batsmen capitalised on a good start,” recalled Waqar. His Cup of woes was full in the next edition in England when Waqar played just one match, which eventually put him in deep trouble.
“Again, it was horrible. I could play only one match, against Bangladesh, in 1999 and that too landed me in trouble,” Waqar said, referring to the match-fixing probe that followed his team’s shock defeat against the minnows.
Waqar never gave up and came back strongly the following year to resurrect his career. Named captain in 2001, he proved he had not lost his skill to severely test the best batsmen.
He grabbed 7-36 and 6-59 in a tri-series match in England the same year and then led his team to a stunning 2-1 victory in Australia last season.
Waqar, one of the three aces in the fearsome Pakistani pace attack along with Akram and Shoaib Akhtar, hopes he will be fourth time lucky despite his team’s recent poor run against Australia and South Africa.
“The recent results have been a cause of grave concern for us, but I am confident the boys will forget everything and focus on the goal - winning the Cup,” said Waqar.-AFP
**Australia preparing for Pakistan danger match
By Ed Osmond
JOHANNESBURG, Feb 5 , 2003 (Reuters)
Australia’s players are preparing for the toughest of starts to their World Cup defence against in consistent Pakistan on Tuesday in a repeat of the 1999 final.Although Australia have won 10 of the 15 one-day matches between the sides since their crushing eight-wicket victory at Lord’s four years ago, Pakistan were the last team to win a limited-overs series against the world champions.
“It’s definitely a danger match for us,” Australia wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist told Reuters. "Any team will look at their first game as being one that can potentially set up the tournament for them.
“Against a really un predictable Pakistani line-up we are going to have to be right on our toes,” Australia’s vice captain said. “We know them when they are playing well and they aren’t playing well, so we’ll just have to make sure we are preparing for them when they are in form.”
Australia captain Ricky Ponting is determined to avoid the slow start the side made to the 1999 tournament, when they lost two of their first three games against New Zealand and Pakistan.
“Our first two games are against Pakistan and India who are going to be two of the better sides right through the World Cup so it’s really important for us that we get off to a much better start than we did in 1999,” Ponting said.
“We were behind the eight-ball for most of the World Cup… and we don’t want to be in that situation again.”
Australia’s preparations have gone smoothly, the world champions losing only two of their last 15 one-day internationals before arriving in South Africa last week.
“The guys have been playing some good cricket,” fast bowler Glenn McGrath said. "But we won’t be taking Pakistan lightly because they are a little bit of an unpredictable team.
"They’ve got a lot of very good individual players, they can turn a match any day.
“We’ll be ready for that. They are a bit hot and cold, if you get a cold day you can wipe them, if you get a hot day they can do anything.”
ANWAR BOOST
Pakistan, who won a one-day series in Australia 2-1 last June, will be further boosted by the return of prolific opening batsman Saeed Anwar.
“We know what a good player he is,” McGrath said. "He’scertainly one of their biggest threats and we’ll be trying toget him back in the shed early.
“We’ve always regarded him as a very classy player. He’s a tough guy to bowl to at the top of the order and he’s got all the shots.”
Gilchrist thinks the games against Pakistan and India will set the tone for Australia.
“It could give us a real launching pad for the rest of the series but if the results don’t go our way it can put you in a real dog-fight for the rest of the tournament,” he said.
::: Reuters **
Shoaib takes aim at the top
Shoaib takes aim at the top
World’s fastest bowler finally prepared to live up to the hype
Duncan Steer
Thursday February 6, 2003
The Guardian
A week before Pakistan open their World Cup campaign with a repeat of the 1999 final against Australia, Shoaib Akhtar sits in his Johannesburg hotel room and outlines how he sees the game going.
“I already know what I’m going to do,” he says. “I’m going to get the main guys out, all the top order, and then I’ll leave the rest to the other bowlers.”
Like a modern-day Muhammad Ali, Shoaib never tires of self-promotion. Becoming the first bowler ever to be measured over 100mph last April has done nothing to temper his likable, almost comic, self-confidence.
Yet a series of match-winning perfomances in the past year have suggested that he is at last living up to the hype. In the past his tendency to go missing, sometimes literally, had often run parallel to Pakistan’s wider underachievement, but according to Shoaib all of that is history now.
“Pakistan play with passion, we play hard, so it’s not always possible to have consistency,” he says. "But everyone’s up for this tournament. I’ve never known a better spirit in the team in the six years I’ve been playing.
“We’re together now. If our batsmen can consistently score 250 or more, then we’ve got the bowling to beat anyone. We’re such a talented side, if three or four of our guys perform in every game I don’t see any chance of us losing the World Cup.”
Shoaib has always talked a good game. But since he played his first one-day international back in November 1998 he has managed only 74 of the team’s 150 games, waylaid by career-threatening injury, controversies over his action and occasional bouts of crying off from international duty to fulfil lucrative contracts elsewhere.
Though the Pakistan captain Waqar Younis regularly tells his maverick talent that no man is bigger than the team, the world’s fastest bowler seems to feel he is the exception to that, and most other, rules. And, anyway, according to Shoaib it is a miracle he plays cricket at all.
"Really I shouldn’t be an athlete. I’ve got flat feet, I’ve got hyperextending joints, which affects my shoulders and my ankles. Even if you look at my toes, they’re not right. My body isn’t an athlete’s body.
“I’m talking to the Discovery Channel about doing a documentary about how my body works,” he adds. “My body is pathetic and I’m bowling at 95mph-plus every ball. I’m putting a big strain on my body. I’m bound to pick up injuries.”
After repeated pleas to the Pakistan Cricket Board to be treated as a special case, Shoaib now has his former personal trainer as part of the team’s medical back-up and, at the moment, he is feeling fit, despite another of those knee niggles troubling him as recently as last week.
“I’ve had a rest, I’m feeling strong and I’m bowling pretty fast,” he says. Indeed, he has already notched up his first casualty of the World Cup. Sadly it was his team-mate Saeed Anwar, who was hit by an Shoaib ball this week and needed an x-ray to establish that his elbow was not broken.
The Australians do not face extreme pace all the time and both Shoaib and New Zealand’s Shane Bond have had success against them over the past 12 months. Shoaib ripped through the middle order with five wickets in 15 balls to dismiss Australia for 127 in Colombo last October and the Australian one-day captain Ricky Ponting has named him as one of the main obstacles to his side retaining the trophy.
A prolonged slanging match with Matthew Hayden later in that series in Sharjah silenced anyone who ever doubted the Rawalpindi Express’s commitment to the cause. “I always go all out for the team. I just want to do my best for the country. I work really hard and that’s why the supporters like me. That’s why they love me.”
The self-styled people’s champion may seem a fish out of water in a dressing room that has seen a religious revival in recent years, with some players rising in the middle of the night to pray together. But Shoaib, who spends half the year in London and is working to put a reputation for late nights and fast living behind him, insists that everyone gets on famously. Indeed, they even like a sing-song in the dressing room.
The inevitable dressing-room appearances of Imran Khan should, at least, help him to stay focused. It was seeing Imran lift the 1992 World Cup on television that first inspired the teenage Shoaib to move up from the tennis-ball cricket on the streets of Rawalpindi to take the sport seriously.
“He’s here to do television, and he’ll be coming into the dressing room, talking to the team,” says Shoaib. “He’s an inspiring guy to have around.”
And what will he do after Pakistan win the World Cup? He says he will come to play in England. He missed out on a season with Nottinghamshire in 2000 because of injury but there are already some offers on the table for 2003.
Naturally, Shoaib’s signing nothing until the World Cup is over. He figures his signature will be worth a lot more in seven weeks’ time.
http://sport.guardian.co.uk/cricketworldcup2003/story/0,12778,889670,00.html
I think its nice to be optimistic, but Shoaib is something else. I mean the way he can just come up with "i'll get all man batsmen out and leave the rest for others..."
Inshallah we will do good in the world cup but we need to get Shoaib back to earth, his thiking of being the greatest bowler is not going to get him anywhere... No doubt he is very fast and talented but hey even Wasim, Waqar, Ambrose, Imran, Lille, Holding or Hadlee never made comments like Shoaib and all those were by far greater bowlers than Shoaib.
He still has to prove that he can play competitive cricket constantly without breaking down and thne think about smart ass comments.
Sarfaraz Nawaz sobers up for a few minutes.
Interesting to see Sarfraz Nawaz sobering up for a few minutes to make some comments about the current Pakistani team. Lookslike the AA clinic has done a fine job on him 
Sarfraz dismisses ‘weak’ Pakistan.
Former fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz has dismissed Pakistan’s chances of winning the World Cup because the team is too weak.
His words come after Pakistan’s embarrassing 26-run defeat to provincial side Easterns in Benoni on Thursday.
Although Pakistan possess some of the most talented players in the world, consistency has long been a problem for captain Waqar Younis and coach Richard Pybus.
And injuries to key players during the past year have not helped their preparations for cricket’s showpiece in South Africa.
But Nawaz, a veteran of 55 Tests, said he would be surprised if Pakistan managed to advance beyond the Super Sixes.
“The team is too weak. Physically, they are not in good condition,” Nawaz told BBC Urdu.
"Most of the players are unfit and those who are fit are out of form.
"The fielding is weak and five players are near to retiring from international cricket.
“It’s hard to predict that this team can win the World Cup.”
The 54-year-old was particularly critical of the older generation in the 15-man squad.
“If the World Cup was not scheduled for this time, most of the older players could have easily retired from the international game six to eight months ago,” he said.
Despite his pessimistic outlook, Nawaz believed Pakistan’s chances of success rested on the shoulders of injury-prone fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar.
But he said only a fully fit Shoaib could inspire his side to victory on the fast and bouncy South African wickets.
Nawaz has been a controversial figure in Pakistani cricket.
He gave evidence at a match-fixing inquiry in Lahore in 2001, alleging two Pakistan matches during the 1999 World Cup in England were rigged.
**Ponting wary of Pakistan
Gilchrist loves the winning feeling
The Australian side claim to be all set to take on Pakistan in their opening game in Johannesburg on Tuesday, but captain Ricky Ponting warned of their opponent’s powerful pace attack.
Ricky Ponting: Wary of the pacemen
Although Australia thrashed Pakistan by eight wickets in the teams’ last World Cup encounter, played at Lord’s in the 1999 CWC final, Ponting’s side will be wary of their opponents’ unpredictable nature.
The three frontline Pakistani bowlers include the two leading wicket-takers in ODI cricket, namely Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, and the quickest bowler in the World, Shoaib Akhtar.
“These guys have a very strong bowling line-up,” Ponting told BBC Online.
"If conditions suit them they are very dangerous and can take early wickets.
"So we have to make sure that we can get through the new ball and hopefully take it from there.
“Akhtar is just a very, very dangerous bowler - we know that we need to get through those tough spells and hopefully he doesn’t do too much damage.”
Ponting realizes how dangerous a side Pakistan can be, however they do have a reputation for not getting up once they’ve been knocked down.
“We know that they can be an explosive and a very good side,” he said.
"At the same time if we put Pakistan under pressure early in the game, they’ll find it very hard to bounce back.
Australia are generally regarded as favourites to defend their title and retain the World Cup, but the skipper refused to look beyond his sides’ opening match.
“We’re not thinking about winning the World Cup yet,” Ponting said.
“We’re thinking about playing well in the first game against Pakistan. If we do that, and keep playing well, anything could happen.”
Wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist has his sights firmly set on a place in the final on 23 March, although he too is wary of the Pakistan side.
“Winning the World Cup is the prime objective,” he said.
"That’s the main appeal about being here. To win the trophy for Australia and wearing the winners medal is an amazing feeling.
"Game one is a danger game. If there is any team that going to be very difficult to take on, Pakistan are that side - unpredictable. That’s why they are so dangerous.
“We have to prepare as if they are on song. That’s the best thing we can do.”
**
***(http://www.cricketnext.com/news1/next/joshi/tap680.htm)
Tapan Joshi in Cape Town
February 8, 2003
For Shoaib Akhtar, arguably the fastest bowler in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003, the prospect of bowling to Sachin Tendulkar has already got the adrenalin going.
Akhtar, who respects very few batsmen in world cricket, rates the Indian batting champions among his top five batsmen. “He is a class act and I have always told myself that unless you bowl to Tendulkar and succeed on a consistent basis, you can’t call yourself great. Now, this is the World Cup, the ultimate thing and bowling to Tendulkar is like a dream come true. Hopefully, I will come out on top when we clash,” he said.
Akhtar, who famously uprooted Tendulkar’s middle stump first ball in Kolkata in 1999 Asian Test Championships, regrets he has not bowled enough to the master batsman. “I have bowled to the likes of Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist. They are great batsmen, but Tendulkar is in a league of his own. I can already imagine myself running up and bowling to him. That will be the ultimate test of my skills,” he said.
The Rawalpindi Express has a few more things to prove in South Africa. “When I clocked more than 100 miles per hour, they didn’t believe it. Now, they will have no choice. I am ready to go all out and bowl as quick as I can.”
And that competition with Brett Lee? “I believe I am a faster bowler than Lee. Anyway, our match against Australia will be an open contest between Lee and myself. Let the world see who comes out on top,” said the super confident fast bowler, who just refuses to sober down.
The mercurial Akhtar, who famously said he’s mad and that one has to be mad to be great, said his aggressive approach has served him well in his career. “Yeah I am aggressive. So what’s wrong with that! I like aggression, I like to see fear in the batsman’s eyes when I am running in.”
When asked about the rest of the Indian batting line-up, Akhtar was all praise for Rahul Dravid as well. “Very correct and sound batsman. I have seen him playing in the middle and on TV as well. On his day, he just won’t get out.”
Akhtar had also removed Dravid’s off-stump in the same Kolkata Test in 1999.
When reminded that India has got a new weapon – Virender Sehwag – the paceman said, “I haven’t played him but I have seen him. I have heard he bats with arrogance and doesn’t give a damn to the bowlers. Good. I like such batsmen,” he said with a smile.
So, come March 1 and we will know who rules the world. Akhtar or Tendulkar.
::: Tapan Joshi **
Shoaib will rule the world.*
**Wasim determined to bury ghost of 1999 World Cup final
Pakistan Cricket Board - 8 February 2003
CAPE TOWN (South Africa), February 8: Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram Saturday said he was determined to bury the ghost of the 1999 World Cup final and hoped to end on a high note in his last hurrah.
“The memories of the 1999 World Cup final are still fresh in my memory. But I am determined to bury them once and for ever in this tournament. This will surely be my last World Cup and I am keen to end on a high note,” the Sultan of Reverse Swing said.
Pakistan lost a lopsided final by eight wickets at Lord’s four years ago. Pakistan play Australia in its World Cup opener on Tuesday.
“I think most of the people don’t remember that we defeated Australia in the preliminary round match in 1999. We showed the world that we had the talent (to beat Australia) that time also and will show it once again,” Wasim, who has 490 one-day international wickets, said.
Wasim will be playing in his fifth World Cup in an illustrious career that started in 1984. In 32 World Cup matches, Wasim had scooped up 43 wickets besides scoring 335 runs. Against Australia, Wasim has played 48 matches so far and scored 773 besides taking 64 wickets at 27.71.
“I have always enjoyed taking on challenges. Australia has always been a very competitive team and I always enjoy playing and performing against them. I just can’t wait for Tuesday’s game and although it would not be a grudge match, we would certainly like to start the tournament on a winning note,” the 36-year-old Wasim said.
Pakistan are the only team that last defeated Australia in a one-day series when they won the Super Challenge Series 2-1 in July 2002.
"Personally, I don’t have anything to settle with Australia. But we need to start with a bang because that would provide us the much needed confidence boosting. It is a long tournament and we would win some (matches) and lose some. But the most important thing is that we must remain gelled together in tough times.
“So far, the atmosphere of the team has been excellent and all the boys are right behind the skipper. We are ambitious and motivated enough to win the tournament,” Wasim, who captained Pakistan in the 1996 and 1999 World Cups, remarked.
Wasim, the only bowler with 400 or more wickets in both the forms of the game, said his team had done everything right until Friday.
“Although we lost on Thursday, but that counts for nothing. We have done everything right – trained extremely hard, had long nets and talked a lot about how to beat the opponents and win the World Cup. But once again, it is a long tournament and we have to stay focused.”
Wasim was Man-of-the-Final when Pakistan won the World Cup in 1992 when he clobbered a rapid 35 odd and picked up three wickets. But this time, he just wants to be in the final.
“I am desperate to be in the final and that’s the goal I have set for myself. I don’t mind whosoever be the Man-of-the-Final this time, but I want to see Pakistan in the final. And if we achieve that, I think I will retire from cricket as probably the most satisfied cricketer who achieved everything in the game,” a committed Wasim said.
Wasim refused to predict Pakistan’s opponent in the final, but said he was expecting Australia, South Africa and the West Indies as the other semifinalists.
“I think South Africa have a huge home advantage. But at the same time they must be under tremendous pressure as it is being projected here as if they have already won the tournament. That is a big pressure as the expectations are already too much and I have seen teams succumbing to these undue pressures,” he said, obviously hinting at Pakistan’s surprise elimination in the 1987 World Cup semifinal at Lahore.
Wasim said he saw his role as a mentor and inspirational leader in this tournament.
“Obviously I have played the maximum number of games for the country and the boys look at me for inspiration and guidance. This gives me added motivation to perform better than before. I am geared up and feel more charged up than maybe in the last few months,” the veteran of 350 one-day internationals said.
Wasim, on the game against India, emphasised that it would be just another game of cricket.
“I know that it is being billed as an explosive match. But for us, it is going to be just another game. We will play as hard as we have played before and although we have not beaten them in the World Cup, we have enjoyed excellent success against them in the last few years. I believe now we have all the tools to break the jinx this time.”
Samiul Hasan
Media Manager
Pakistan Cricket Team
February 8, 2003**
Forget Aussies’ recent edge v Pakistan - Buchanan
**
By Brian Murgatroyd
JOHANNESBURG, Feb 9 2003 (Reuters)
Australia coach John Buchanan has played down the significance of his side’s recent successes against Pakistan as the two teams prepare for their World Cup opener at The Wanderers on Tuesday.
After losing a three-match series of one-day internationals to Pakistan last June, Australia went unbeaten through a limited-overs series against Waqar Younis’s side in Kenya and then won 3-0 in the test series that followed.
Those test victories included two by an innings, one of the minside two days, but despite those wins, Buchanan said there would be no complacency among his players in what is a re-run of the 1999 World Cup final, which Australia won by eight wickets.
“Yes, our record against them recently is good, but past or even current form counts for very little when you play Pakistan,” Buchanan told Reuters on Sunday.
“They have one or two individuals who can turn it on with other players then feeding of them, and that can make them a formidable side.”
Buchanan believes the Johannesburg showdown between the two sides could hold significance for the Super Six stage of the tournament which follows the group matches.
“If we can win this match and both sides qualify for the Super Sixes, then we will take the four points we would get through with us, so a win is pretty important,” he said.
“The game is also a chance to see where we are at in terms of our preparations and, while I am hoping to win, it would also be nice to get a good hard game under our belts early in the tournament too,” he added.
Pakistan coach Richard Pybus echoed Buchanan’s thoughts when he said Australia’s dominance in recent head-to-head matches meant little coming into the Group A encounter.
STRONGEST SQUAD
“When we played them late last year, we were without Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousuf Youhana, Saeed Anwar and Wasim Akram, but now this is pretty much the strongest squad Pakistan can put out,” said Pybus.
“Also the World Cup is unique and that can mean past form doesn’t really count.”
Both sides have injury problems, though, with Pakistan opener Anwar still to practise since sustaining a blow to his left elbow from a Shoaib Akhtar delivery in the nets last Tuesday.
Australia, already without suspended batsman Darren Lehmann who is serving the last match of a five-game ban, will also be monitoring the progress of fellow middle-order batsman Michael Bevan as he recovers from a torn groin muscle.
Ian Harvey, a very effective ‘bits-and-pieces’ player, has a slight back strain, although it is not serious.
Another poser for both line-ups on Tuesday will be which bowlers should take the new ball.
Pakistan have four options in Shoaib, Wasim, Waqar and young fast bowler Mohammad Sami while Australia, with Jason Gillespie and Glenn McGrath both fit again, have to decide whether to retain Brett Lee as their opening bowler.
Lee was hugely impressive when spear heading Australia’s attack in the recent triangular one-day series against England and Sri Lanka, ending up as the player of the series.
::: Reuters **
Injured Anwar still doubtful for World Cup opener
Reuters - 9 February 2003
**
Pakistan batsman Saeed Anwar is still uncertain to play in his side’s World Cup opener against Australia on Tuesday after being struck on the left elbow by team mate Shoaib Akhtar last week.
Coach Richard Pybus said he was happy with the player’s progress but added that Anwar, who is playing in his third World Cup, had not been able to practise since bruising his arm in the nets last Tuesday.
“He’s coming along quite nicely but we will have to take things one day at a time,” Pybus told Reuters on Sunday.
"It (the elbow) is getting better each day but it is badly bruised and there is swelling and we have to get that down first.
“We certainly won’t be rushing him back until he is 100 per cent fit.”
Should the left-handed opening batsman be ruled out of The Wanderers Group A match, which is a re-run of the 1999 final, he is likely to be replaced by 21 year-old Taufeeq Umar.
The 34-year-old Anwar, holder of the world record one-day score of 194, has just been recalled to the team after a long spell in the wilderness in an attempt to bolster Pakistan’s batting.
He has undergone knee and wrist surgery over the last year.
© Reuters **
thats what we need most....team unity!