THROUGH THE COVERS: No real surprise in the Cup squad
By Zaheer Abbas
THE 15-man squad that Pakistan has announced for the forthcoming World Cup carries no real surprises. Some would argue about whether or not Azhar Mahmood should have been picked after an extended lean period in the international arena. However, once he was declared medically fit by the doctors, he was almost a certainty in view of his excellent record on South African soil where the Cup would be contested.
Having said that, now I return to the discussion that I started last week about the chances of individual teams in the World Cup. Having set the context last week, we now move on to have a look at some of the leading contenders who will be sweating it out. And it is only logical to start with Australia, the defending champions. It is beyond doubt that they will be as strong a contender as they were the last time round in 1999.
The fact that they will have lost none of their strength and potency even though they will be under a new captain, is a testimony to the richness of resources at their disposal, and the chain of continuity that the Australian management has so consciously put in place. The system has served the Australians well, and their performance — and the consistency with which they have delivered such explosive performances — is a clear sign of the success of the system.
Adam Gilchrist will be the key man in the Australian line-up, and what a man to have both in front of the stumps, and behind them. He is special. In fact, he is one of the kind. He loves playing fast bowlers, and what he loves more is to destroy them and their reputations by making them look so ordinary, if not downright trundlers.
He is not a slogger. He is not what people generally call a pinch-hitter. He is first and foremost a technically skilled batsman with a sharp eye and even sharper reflexes. And therein lies the secret of his stupendous success. While he takes the aerial route at his discretion, his shots along the grass and in the gaps also fetch him a great percentage of his runs. When he hits the ball, it stays hit. That’s power. Teams that will fail to get him early will have to pay the price.
While Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Damien Martin and Michael Bevan will give him company, each of them is good and competent enough to hold the fort in case others fail on a particular day. And with the potential of lusty hitting available in the form of Bret Lee and possibly Shane Warne, the batting line-up is anybody’s envy.
With Glen McGrath and Jason Gillespie joining hands with Lee and Warne, the bowling attack also looks ominous, and the Australians certainly have the fielding and catching skills to support their bowlers under any circumstances.
So, with such great strength in all the three key areas, should we assume that a successful Australian defence of the coveted title is a foregone conclusion? I don’t think so, as even the Australians have a few weak spots: one, they do not have an established all-rounder in their line-up; two, the injury to Warne will definitely hamper the team’s preparations; and, three, Ricky Ponting, as captain, is still learning the ropes and may well falter when the crunch comes.
In the context of the group, the Australians will have only Pakistan to really worry about, especially in view of the fact that Pakistan did beat them 2-1 in the last One Day series between the two teams. I don’t see either India, England or Zimbabwe causing any serious trouble to the Australians. No doubt, these will be tough, hard-fought matches, but any result except an Australian win in these matches will be considered an upset.
THE 15-man squad that Pakistan has announced for the forthcoming World Cup carries no real surprises. Some would argue about whether or not Azhar Mahmood should have been picked after an extended lean period in the international arena. However, once he was declared medically fit by the doctors, he was almost a certainty in view of his excellent record on South African soil where the Cup would be contested.
