Group B (with Australia, India, England, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Holland)

Strengths: Batting and bowling match-winners in abundance. It is hard to find a Pakistan player who has not produced a Man-of-the-Match performance.

Weaknesses: Regular dissension between team mates, suspect fielding (they have never matched the Australians or South Africans in this department) and few disciplined players, apart from Abdul Razzaq and Yousuf Youhana, to steady the ship in times of crisis.

Key man: Wasim Akram — playing in his last World Cup, he has the stature to make sure Waqar Younis is supported as captain. He also has the power to undermine him, which could prove fatal.

One-day form: Coach Mudassar Nazar was sacked in September after a wretched run, the team losing six out of 10 one-day internationals and being knocked out of the Champions Trophy at the first hurdle. Whitewashed Zimbabwe 5-0 away but lost their final World Cup warm-up with a 4-1 defeat in South Africa.

Past World Cup performances: Pakistan’s greatest hour came when they beat England in the 1992 final but they made a horrible mess of their second final in 1999, when they were skittled for 132 by Australia, having beaten them earlier in the tournament.

Their only real failure came in the first tournament in 1975, when they won one game out of three. They reached the semi-finals in 1979, 1983 and 1987 and the quarters in 1996.

Prediction: Semifinals — at least.—Reuters