Battle-hardened Afridi the lynchpin
ESPNcricinfo previews Pakistan's chances in the 2011 World Cup
Pakistan's previous World Cup finishes include three semi-finals, a final and a title, but those are distant memories. Their last two appearances were both preliminary-round exits, and the 2007 outing, especially, was a nightmare, when Ireland beat them and their coach, Bob Woolmer, was found dead the next morning. Even the 1999 World Cup, when they did very well and made the final, is a bitter memory because of the way the team eventually capitulated to Australia. And 1996, too, left an acrid taste after a quarter-final loss to arch-rivals India. You really have to go back to 1992 to find a World Cup tournament that resonates with Pakistani fans.
For most of 2010, Pakistan had a dismal win-loss ratio placing them at the bottom of the international pile, worse even than Zimbabwe. They began the year with a 0-5 drubbing at the hands of Australia, followed by two key defeats (to India and Sri Lanka) in the Asia Cup in June. Later in the year, however, they picked themselves up. Although two subsequent encounters (against England and South Africa) were lost, Pakistan were able to push each series to a fifth-game decider, before finally notching a 3-2 series win in New Zealand. Their win-loss ratio over the last 12 months now places them sixth, ahead of West Indies, New Zealand, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.
Javed Miandad: Pakistan are a talented team fully capable of pulling off a surprise. In the 2011 format, a team only has to edge past the bottom three in its group and they are in the quarter-final, from where it is just three straight wins to the title. Any of the eight frontline teams can win this one.
Given Pakistan's well-earned reputation for volatility, they are an interesting bet for this tournament. It goes in their favour that the World Cup often goes to a team who start out as dark horses. On paper you would expect them to get past the group stage but succumb in the quarters to lack of confidence and the wild card of controversy. But Pakistan have a history of firing best when cornered, so anything can happen. Only a fool would rule them out.
The brand of cricket played by Pakistan is nothing if not exciting. Their onslaughts can be murderous and their rearguards stirring. Even their collapses and surrenders are spectacular. This is a team that offers the cricket enthusiast potentially everything, from established crowd-pullers to thrilling young blood, from delight and elation to tragedy and pathos, in a package liberally spiced with scandal and gossip.
Umar Akmal and Shahid Afridi have been the side's leading batsmen since December 2009. Afridi scored two centuries in the Asia Cup, including a superb 109 off 76 balls in a defeat against Sri Lanka; Saeed Ajmal (17 wickets) and Afridi (19) have been the best bowlers in that period. Umar Gul was in superb form last summer in England, picking up 12 wickets in the five matches, and is by far Pakistan's best limited-overs pace bowler.
For a player of his limited-overs stature and with his nose for the big moment, Shahid Afridi is long overdue a World Cup mega-performance. In 2009, when Pakistan took the World Twenty20 title in England, it was on the strength of his feats. An ambitious man conscious of honours and awards, he will be keen to add World Cup glory to this legacy. Now that he is captain the stakes are that much higher. He is Pakistan's lynchpin, and if he finds form, everybody better watch out. The subcontinental conditions will certainly suit him.
Saad Shafqat is a writer based in Karachi