LAHORE - Pakistan announced its 15-man World Cup squad right at the cut-off deadline, here on Tuesday. The last-minute deliberations, during which lines must have burnt between here and South Africa (to take the captain and coach's say) and England (to reconfirm Azhar Mahmood's fitness from physio Dale Naylor), not to mention satisfying the brass at the Gaddafi Stadium, held up Wasim Bari's press briefing but not for more than 40 minutes.

Chairman of selectors Wasim Bari announcing a 15-man team for the 2003 ICC World Cup Photo © PCB

Though one may have an odd reservation or two, but one has to concede, and for a change agree with chief selector Wasim Bari, that on paper this is a side strong enough to perform a World Cup encore. But in case of Pakistan, it happens but only rarely that strength on paper is reflected in consistency on the field and as a consequence in results which could be termed as excellent.

A case in point is the recent 4-1 drubbing in South Africa. But in the only match that Pakistan won to level the series, before going down rather tamely in the last three, it massacred Pollock and Company to put 335 runs on the board and in a ruthlessly clinical finish spanked the Proteas by 182 runs - the latter's worst-ever showing. Not surprisingly, the talk on the streets of Lahore, a cosmopolitan whose denizens have an uncanny knack to get to the pulse of the matter, was that a certain former captain and his cohorts in the eleven were out to scalp Waqar Younis by engineering a string of defeats.

Bari concedes, and none of the two other selectors Shafiq Papa and Abdul Raquib chose to disagree with him, that Pakistan had under-performed in South Africa, though he did beat about the bush about the real cause, blaming it on the brittleness of the middle order.

Former captain Rameez Raja, also without substantiating allegations of manipulation, says that the World Cup is a different ball game altogether. "The decision on the captain is out. And come whatever, Waqar is going to lead Pakistan. And believe you me, that once the camp for a World Cup is held, the spirit is absolutely different. I have been part of enough Cup campaigns to tell you that it is more like a metamorphosis."

We all need to back up the team, says Raja. Bari made a similar cry, urging "the media and the nation to back the team for the mega event."

"The best possible team has been picked for the tournament. And my request to all of you is to back this team. Today it requires support, motivation and a boost in confidence. Instead of criticising the individuals that would only dent their confidence, they should be made to realise that they are the ones who can rise to the occasion and win back the title," said Bari.

Whether the entire team rallies under the banner remains to be seen, but this time it has many an added incentive. Apart from the $2 million prize money, each player would be richer by another $90,000 as a reward from the PCB, not to mention other lucrative awards expected from the government and business houses - all keen followers of the game, and none averse to basking in reflected glory.

Coming back to the 15, the squad seems quite balanced with the number of quality all-rounders rivalling South Africa. This provides the greenshirts with considerable depth, both in bowling and batting. That, and the power and venom of its pace quartet (Waqar, Wasim, Shoaib, Sami), notwithstanding, one has a nagging uneasy feeling about top of the batting. Saeed Anwar has been brought back, for his experience says Wasim Bari. It is entirely another thing that Anwar is shying away from the new ball even in domestic cricket - where the level of competitiveness is at best of the same calibre as Bangladesh or Kenya. He was batting as low as number seven, and the highest up the order was still No 3, for just one game. And he has barely scored a fifty.

His sojourn to the middle in his last World Cup match, the final against Australia, witnessed one of the most embarrassing sights of the previous decade: changing the grip on the field, with the satellite television beaming the sorry scene to the whole world, on his way back to the crease apologising to each and every Aussie and then getting bowled first ball. Four years on, during which he has not just added a beard but also some wobble in the legs not to mention nerves, he is expected to hold the Pakistan's top together along with Saleem Elahi. It sounds like a tall order, though his inclusion may make certain quarters in the eleven, like Inzamam-ul-Haq happy.

After all, if you infuriate one faction, you have to appease the other or you end up losing both. Anyway, Anwar is back.

It is only a matter of opinion, but had the selectors used some imagination, they should perhaps have recalled Moin Khan instead of Anwar, since Shahid Afridi has rather wrongly been relegated to late in the order. Moin's guts, courage and batting skills, not to mention his enormous ability to improvise, would have served the team well as a pinch-hitting opener. And he would have covered up for Rashid Latif, who has of late proven to be injury prone.

But Bari believes that the side being rich in experience, and having recently played in South Africa, despite unpalatable results, is capable of prevailing over all comers. "Of the 15 selected, 11 have previously played in the World Cup. Besides, there are 14 boys who are playing or have played on the recent tour to Africa. The only newcomers to the squad are Saeed Anwar and Azhar Mahmood.

"The Pakistan team is a combination of youth and experience, and it is capable of excelling in the World Cup despite a recent run of poor form. But I believe form is temporary and class is permanent and there can't be any two opinions that this team has plenty of class and natural flair," said Bari.

The 15-man Pakistan squad:
Saeed Anwar, Taufeeq Umar, Saleem Elahi, Younis Khan, Yousuf Youhana, Inzamam-ul-Haq (vice-captain), Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Azhar Mahmood, Wasim Akram, Rashid Latif (wicketkeeper), Waqar Younis (captain), Mohammad Sami, Shoaib Akhtar, Saqlain Mushtaq.

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