PAKISTAN were gracious guests as they gifted the opening match of the Caribbean World Cup to their hosts. After restricting West Indies to a below-par total, Inzamam-ul Haq's team should have pooped the Jamaican party by strolling to victory. But a perfect day, a perfectly friendly batting track, and two crucial points for the next phase of the tournament were insufficient incentives for Pakistan to rise to the occasion. You wonder what it will take to rouse Inzamam-ul Haq's uninspired team from its lethargy?

As well as West Indies battled in the field the weaknesses in Pakistan's batting line-up decided the result. Coach Bob Woolmer took a pot shot at his team's critics earlier this week, suggesting the jibes of former cricketers and pundits were an unnecessary and unfair burden on his team. Unfortunately, Pakistan's insipid batting display only served to underscore the concerns of the critics.

Wasim Bari and his fellow selectors have managed to send a squad to the West Indies that does not include a single reserve batsman. The on-going failure of Imran Nazir has brought this dilemma into sharp focus. It has also highlighted the failure of the Pakistan Cricket Board to find a settled opening partnership in the four years since the last World Cup.

Worse still, Pakistan look to be confused about their strategy. Having tried Younis Khan as an opener and pushed Mohammad Yousuf and Inzamam-ul-Haq up the order in a warm-up match, Pakistan reverted to their old batting line-up. The problem for Inzamam and Woolmer is that their batting order isn't working consistently enough, and it is delusional to pretend otherwise.

Pakistan's main hope remains that their selected batsmen will adjust to the helpful batting conditions and leap out of their slump. But time is running out, and the partnership between Yousuf and Inzamam summed up Pakistan's gormless batting display. If more of the batsmen had batted with half the spirit that Shoaib Malik mustered then Pakistan would have cantered to victory.

Poor batting accounted for all of the top five wickets, and by the time Shoaib showed what measured aggression could achieve, he had run out of partners. The key dismissal was of Yousuf, who suddenly lost his calm and decided that he would hit a boundary or bust. After failing to learn the lesson of two consecutive swishes, he was undone by a rising delivery that nipped back at him.

All hopes rested on Pakistan's captain but he brought a strangely subdued innings to a close in a familiar manner, leg before playing across the line. It was left to Shoaib to produce a miracle once Kamran Akmal had continued his run of poor form, but the batting partners left to him were barely able to hit the ball off the square.

Pakistan had surprisingly abandoned their strategy of batting deep with all-rounders, and the tail began at number 8 with Rana Naved-ul Hasan who had another miserable match. His selection wasn't justified by form because he has leaked runs since his return from injury last September. With Azhar Mahmood and Yasir Arafat available, it was an incredible decision for Pakistan to retain faith in Rana. If he is still in the team that faces Ireland, the tour selectors should be charged with negligence.

Even though more was expected of Danish Kaneria, the rest of Pakistan's bowling attack performed admirably. On this form, the loss of Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif is less of a concern than the fragility and lack of focus of Pakistan's batting order. But Pakistan lack the extra pace that Shoaib brings. The answer is Mohammad Sami but Inzamam and Woolmer appear reluctant to unleash him.

This loss is not the end of Pakistan's World Cup. There were worse moments in 1992 and 1999 when Pakistan reached the final. But there is a sense that this time around the Pakistani management are a confused bunch, unsure of their best eleven, their best strategy, and, worryingly, unsure of how to put right their deficiencies.

Inzamam and Woolmer need to react fast. If they think the critics are unforgiving now, a dismal World Cup will show them just how lucky they have been.