Despite being beaten 1-0 in the three-Test series and followed up by elimination in the quarter-finals of the International Cup in Dhaka, the cricket enthusiasts have still not lost faith in the potential and skill of their national team.

The die-hard cricket followers, for the third day running, queued for hours to buy tickets but not all got the enclosures they wanted. ``Something is better than nothing. I have got six tickets for the Citizen enclosure but I am happy. At least I will be a witness to what should be a great match,'' a merchant navy officer said.

``They (Pakistan) are down but still not out. We will support our team till the final ball of the match. We strongly believe that Pakistan will bounce back,'' said twin sisters who got ladies enclosure tickets after a two-hour long wait.

The tickets for the match have almost been completely sold out except for a few available seats in Javed Miandad, Hanif Mohammad and Majid Khan enclosures. But the organizers were expecting an over-flowing crowd for the game between the two former world champions. ``The official capacity of the ground is 47,000 and we are expecting that it would be a packed-to-capacity house,'' an organizer said.

The mood of the Pakistan team supporters is festive and the morale sky-high.

Injuries to key players haven't really allowed the team to combine in force and play at its true potential. Whatever resources are left, they are either not being exploited properly or they are struggling with form. Off-the-field activities have hardly let them concentrate on the game.

Saeed Anwar, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mushtaq Ahmad, Waqar Younis and Mohammad Zahid are all missing because of injuries while Salim Malik has probably reached a point of no-return after being dropped from the team because of inconsistent performance.

In the absence of these star players, Pakistan would be entering the field with suspect openers, brittle middle-order and unimpressive bowling attack.

Although Australia would begin as firm favourites after outclassing Pakistan in the recently-concluded Test series after emerging as a more fitter, focused, competitive and professional unit. But the way Pakistan fought back after losing the opening Test, only fools would ruled out Pakistan's chances here.

``Pakistan are a hard side to beat. I am not sure who would be playing for them on Friday as the selectors have announced 16, but Saeed Anwar and Inzamam-ul-Haq will certainly miss the match. They are terrific strikers of the ball and a real threat to any opposition,'' Australia's one-day team skipper Steve Waugh said.

``We had a great (Test) series and we want to end the one-day rubber on a winning note as well. It would be a perfect icing on the cake,'' the 33-year-old veteran of 246 matches said.

Waugh said there were fitness problems in Australian camp as well. He said Damien Fleming and Brendon Julian got an attack of food poisoning on Wednesday morning while Michael Kasprowicz had a stiff neck.

However, it has to be seen if six-day lay-off from competitive cricket has affected their momentum or not.

Pakistan, as always, have maintained their tradition of not releasing the playing side until the morning of the match. However, informed sources said off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq might be left out of the team after receiving hard criticism from skipper Aamir Sohail.

``Eleven will play from the 16 made available to us by the selectors. We have not decided the combination nor have finalized the playing team,'' Pakistan coach Javed Miandad said.

Saqlain Mushtaq is the only other experienced Pakistan bowler after Wasim Akram who has 163 wickets in 83 matches. But Pakistan management is known for experimentations but this decision seems beyond imagination. Any other Test playing country would love to have Saqlain in their side but here the men in command are adamant to halt his playing career.

Sources also indicated that Hasan Raza, Mohammad Akram, Kabir Khan and Mohammad Naveed Qureshi might also be left out.

``We haven't seen the wicket yet. But I know that it would be a great opportunity for the youngster to show their potential. They have a great chance to show that they can fit in the team,'' Miandad added.

The former captain believed that there would be no pressure on the youngsters. ``One-day cricket is basically an entertainment cricket for the spectators. The rules have been drafted to help the batsmen who can show some fireworks and amuse the spectators. It is not as serious form of cricket as Test,'' Miandad, who scored 7,381 runs, observed.

Pakistan captain Aamir Sohail said his team was determined to improve their performance. ``We will certainly be aiming to win all the matches. But I am more interested to see a much determined show from the boys irrespective of the result.''

Sohail felt that there would be no element of revenge when his side takes the field. ``I don't believe in revenge. They played better cricket in the Test series and won. If we played good limited overs cricket, we will win.

``As far as the settlement of scores in concerned, well, then we will have to beat Australia in Australia (in the Test series) when we go there next year.''

Miandad, without disclosing the strategy of the team, said Sohail might bat at No 3. ``To bring more experience in the middle-order, we might persist with Aamir (Sohail) at one-down position.''

Looking back at the statistics, Pakistan have meet Australia in 46 One-day Internationals, winning 21, losing 22, one tied match and two ending in no-results. In Pakistan, Pakistan have faced Australia in eight games, winning four and losing three while the only match between these teams at the National Stadium in October 1982 was abandoned after only 12 overs due to a crowd trouble.

Teams (to be selected from):

Pakistan:

Aamir Sohail (captain), Shahid Afridi, Salim Elahi, Ijaz Ahmad, Yousuf Yohanna, Azam Khan, Moin Khan, Azhar Mahmood, Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar, Arshad Khan, Saqlain Mushtaq, Hasan Raza, Mohammad Akram, Kabir Khan and Mohammad Naveed Qureshi.

Australia:

Steve Waugh (captain), Mark Waugh, Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting, Michael Bevan, Darren Lehmann, Damien Martyn, Brendon Julian, Gavin Robertson, Glen McGrath, Damien Fleming, Michael Kasprowicz, Brad Young and Andrew Symonds.

Umpires: Salim Badar and Riazuddin.
TV umpire: Feroze Butt.
Match Referee: Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka).

Match starts at 9:30 a.m.