Pakistan being the most unpredictable
team always has an outside chance to win any tournament and this year’s ICC
Champion trophy is no different.
Just before every big event Pakistani
team comes up with different issues, players conflict with board, match fixing
issues, differences among players to
name a few. This has become a routine for them, this time around omission of
Shahid Afridi from 15 member squad was the topic of discussion. The 33 year old
all-rounder is going through an extended lean patch since his brilliance in ICC
World Cup 2011. His bowing has been his major strength with very few glimpses
of his hard hitting batting which he is famous of. Since the start of 2012 Afridi has taken only
15 wickets in 21 ODIs, His batting average during this period is 19.
Another big news was the omission
of Umar Gul due to injury. Gul has been the spear head of Pakistan fast bowling
unit since long. His experience will clearly be missed. Middle order Batsman
Umar Akmal and Left arm fast bowler Sohail Tanvir have also been left out.
Out of Six ICC champions Trophy
Pakistan have reached semifinals thrice. England has hosted Champions Trophy In
2004 in which Pakistan reached the semifinals only to lose to West Indies who
ended up winning the tournament.
Leading into the Champions
Trophy Pakistan will play two matches each with Scotland and Ireland in their
respective back yards. A perfect foil for the youngsters to acclimatize in cold
weather. Following them Pakistan will play warm matches against Sri Lanka &
South Africa.
Pakistan is in group B with West
Indies, South Africa and arch rivals India. Matches will be played in Oval
which has traditionally helped spinners and Edgbaston whose pitch is rapidly
losing pace.
Pakistan batting will again be
relying on Muhammad Hafeez and Nasir jamshed to provide good starts with
contributions from middle order comprising on Misbah ul haq, Shoaib Malik,
Imran Farhat, Kamran Akmal, Asad Shafiq and Umer Amin. With Umar Gul injured Fast
bowling will be in the hands of young Junaid Khan and Muhammad Irfan with Wahab
Riaz, Ahsan Adil and Asad Ali. Spin wizard Saeed Ajmal will hold the key.
This Pakistani team has
aggression in Kamran Akmal, Imran Farhat, Muhamamd Hafeez and Nasir jamshed.
Cool head in Misbah-ul-haq, Shoaib Malik to handle pressure situation and can
also act as finishers. In the bowling department Junaid khan and Muhammad Irfan
will provide extra pace and saeed ajmal and abdul rehman will take control in
spin department.
Pakistan may not look the tournament
winning combination to most but it still has many match winners who can take
the match away in no time. I wouldn’t rate Pakistan as a front runner for the
trophy but one of the favorites to atleast reach the semifinals.
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