ICC World Cup 2019
Part 10 - Will Pakistan repeat 1992 at England???
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Pakistan cricket board announced their squad for ICC World Cup 2019 at England and Whales on 18th April 2019 itself. They can proudly say they were the first team to win the world cup after the introduction of coloured jersey. They have 6 proper batsmen in the squad, 4 all rounders and 5 bowlers in that list. Sarfaraz Ahmed going to lead the team as well going to take care of wicket keeper slot. First advantage for this team is they not playing in IPL. Yes, IPL helped many players to regain their form. But the problem is the continuous matches in Twenty 20's for more than a month may change the game nature of some key players. That may affect them while playing One day matches. Like in 20 overs all the balls a batsman have to rotate strike or hit. But in one day no need for that we can keep few dot balls in good bowling. Sometimes they many try to hit those good balls which gives the way for an edge wicket. Pakistan were not in that danger. Moreover they played few one day matches against aussie before world cup and a proper rest will result in world cup matches. Lets see how the selection committee picked players and what would be the best line up during match.
Top Order:
Before 2018 only three country batsmen crossed 200 runs in One day International. But the history was rewritten by pak left hand opener Fakhar Zaman. He scored 210 runs against Zimbabwe and became the first pakistani to score double century in ODI's. Not only that record he also broke the record of legend Syed Anwar's highest individual score by pakistani 194 runs. His average in 53 in ODI's from 31 matches. Not only a batsman he is also a good part time bowler too that is added advantage for pak. This left hander is the perfect choice for playing at position 1 along with young Imam Ul Haq. This 23 year old cricketer always dangerous at power plays. He is also having an average of 54 from 24 matches with 5 centuries and 5 fifties. After a long gap we are seeing two left hand openers from a team. Previously we had a world dangerous combo from australia Hayden and Gilchrist, but now its the time for pakistani openers to prove them.
At no 3 they have a run machine as like a kohli for India. His name is Babar Azam. Such a talented One day player for pakistan. His average is more than 51 from 59 matches with 8 centuries and 10 half centuries. At once he scored consecutive hundreds too. More than that his strike rate is 84 which is good enough for a batsman who is playing at no 3. I think this is the first time top 3 pakistani players having average of more than 50. If they keep the same form in world cup definitely they may have lot of chances to score big.
One more unavoidable striker is there for pakistan. He is none other than their captain cum wicket keeper sarfaraz ahmed. May be we are not picking him for 4th position. But he should bat at no 5. His strike rate is good enough to tackle death bowlers. He may be the game changer while batting. His job is just to increase the runrate and score eventhough he may get only 20 balls to face. Hope Sarfaraz will do that. Still 2 more catches are there to complete his 100th catch in ODI's. We can expect that in first two matches itself.
All- rounders:
Till today pakistan had many all rounders like Afridi and Razaq. Many of them were more trust worthy than batsmen. Some times they will hit furiously and some times they build innings without losing wicket. Shoaib Malik is one of the best in that. This is the last world cup for this guy. We have seen him for almost 13 years. He is having experience of playing more than 280 matches in ODI's with 7000 plus runs and 156 wickets too. He should come at no 4 so only can able to hold the innings at lower middle overs. Because he is expertise in handling spin bowlers.
One more experienced player at no 6, Mohammed Hafeez he is playing for the country for a long years. Being a middle order player he is not getting enough chances. But a trust worthy player who can do much things when the team needs. He is having more than 6000 runs from 200 plus matches. His experience is must need for pakistan while chasing target under pressure. Harris Sohail at no 7, he is also experienced but didnt played much match. He played only 31 matches and having an average of 48 with strike rate of 82. Pakistan can use him for finishing purpose of match.
Another young sensational middle order all rounder is their for paksitan at no 8. Faheem Ashraf, a good all rounder like Moen Ali for England. He will definitely give his best performance either in batting or in bowling thats for sure. Sometimes he may do good at both. He played just 20 matches in one day but took 19 wickets with an economy of 4.56 and a five wicket haul too. Pakistan can add him as a bowling all rounder. If pakistan need a replacement for him they have Imad Wasim in squad. He is the perfect replacement for Faheem. He also took 38 wickets from 34 matches. But atleast one should be there in playing XI. But adding Faheem will gives a medium pace bowler. Because all others are spinners.
Strong bowlers:
This is always the strongest position for Pakistan. But this time they have only two quality bowlers one is Hasan Ali and another one is Junaid Khan. Both are excellent players no doubt in that. Hasan Ali took 77 wickets from 44 matches with an average of 25. Which means for every 25 balls we can expect a wicket from him. On the other side left arm fast bowler Junaid Khan, he took 108 wickets from 74 matches with and average of 28. Both these bowlers are enough at powerplay and death overs. But if they add Mohammed Amir in squad this trio will be the dangerous in world cup. Unfortunately he is not selected for world cup squad. For third bowler they have only two option either Shaheen Afridi or Mohammed Hassanain but both are amateur. Hasanain played only 3 ODI. But pakistan can use him as mystery bowler again some strong team. Because they not aware of this guy bowling which results in picking wicket.
Shaheen Afridi is good left arm medium pace bowler. Already they having Faheem as medium right so its right to go with Shaheen. He took 19 wickets from 10 matches. If Pakistan doesnt want both of them no other option for them he would have go with spinner Shadab Khan.
Best XI for play:
1. Fakhar Zaman
2. Imam Ul Haq
3. Babar Azam
4. Shoaib Malik
5. Sarfaraz Ahmed (C & wk)
6. Mohammed Hafeez
7. Harris Sohail (or) Imad Wasim
8. Faheem Ashraf
9. Shadab Khan
10. Hasan Ali
11. Junaid Khan
Schedule:
Over all the team looks good enough but not the best. If they added one more fast bowler like Mohammed Amir or Wahab Riaz that may be the added advantage. They lagged in fast bowling section only. That too in England. English pitch always support for speeds thats why most of the time pakistan dominated while playing at England both in ODI world cup 1999, 2009 T20 world cup champion at england and 2017 champions trophy winners at the same England. Definitely the missing of third bowler will make a major blow in this tournament for them. But we decide based on this because pakistan team is always unpredictable. Whenever we say they will won they will lose like a non test playing team. Whenever we though they wont win the match and they can change all cricket experts prediction by their win. All the best for Sarfaraz and his team.
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