Pakistan are now shifting focus to the upcoming World Cup T-20 following their Asia cup loss to Sri Lanka.Despite speculation over the teams fragile batting line-up ahead of the Asia Cup,it was their bowling which let them down.But they are the giants in the shortest format and will start the tournament as favourites.
Bowling has been the strength of Pakistan.The bowling will be led by Ajmal and the likes of Gul and Junaid will accompany him. Afridi and Hafeez will be very difficult to get away given the way they bowl. With Afridi back in form , it will surely give him more confidence in bowling also.The number of all rounders make this team more dangerous , especially in the shorter format .
Coming to the Batting,the good news for Pakistan is the timely return of form of their Senior Pro Shahid Afridi who clicked at the right time with the bat and won two back to back close matches for Pakistan against India and Bangladesh.The top order specially the likes Hafeez and Umar Akmal need to be consistent.Ahmed Shehzad and Fawad Alam are on a good touch,and need to share the Batting responsibility.The finishers in Afridi and Umar Akmal will be hard to contain with and if Pakistan manages a good score , it will be hard to score , given the quality of their bowling attack.
The Three time Semi-Finalist and once Champion Team start their Campaign against arch rivals India on the 21st of March 2014;given their dismal record v/s India in ICC World Cup Events (Pakistan have never beaten India in ICC World Cup Formats) ,the Pakistanis must pull their socks up and try to click as an unit instead of relying on individuals ahead of this Epic Clash.
But given their track record, they have always managed to perform well in the ICC events, no matter the form they were before the tournament.Lets see if the most consistent T20 team can lift the trophy again or not
By
Aditya Bhattacharyya
