1999 World Cup - Pakistan Preview

LONDON - A little more than seven years ago a bedraggled Pakistan, deflated by a rain-affected result and the famous Jonty Rhodes run out in Brisbane, slunk out of the Woollongabba although their captain, Iman Khan, was not worried about the future.

He was right. The Asian tiger snarled and growled and snapped: a little more than three weeks later their captain held aloft the World Cup after beating England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the tumultuous 1992 final. It also allowed Iran to indulgently suggest that it had been through his divine "intervention which" had enabled him to lead Pakistan to the top of the heap Down Under.

Since those heady days, followed by a variety of ball-tampering complaints and judicial match-fixing scandals, Pakistan have been allowed to wallow too often in the nostalgia of that 1992 success. It has not been good, either, for their Jekyll and Hyde temperament

Imran has retired, replaced by a succession of would-be pretenders in between the hiring and firing and rehiring of Wasim Akram by an erratic and eccentric Pakistan Cricket Board.

Now the PCB seem to finally got it right by allowing Wasim to take over the captaincy which is the one common stabilising denominator in the team wracked by coaching wrangles. It has not helped the team's often disturbed psyche.

Javed Miandad departed in a huff claiming personal reasons, and Richard Pybus, with his South African connections, having his position as technical adviser increased to that of temporary coach added to the confusion.

Little wonder a bemused Akram shrugged his shoulders when Mushtaq Mohammed was handed the job of pulling together a bunch who have the fascinating if annoying habit of presenting a variety of faces and characters. We saw enough of that in South Africa two summers ago.

We also had a good look at Saqlain Mushtaq, who despite the claims of Muthia Muralitharan is the world's No1 off-spinner. Saqlain is dangerous with a variety of deliveries plucked from a magician's hat; the floater is bowled at pace and whips away from the right-hander is one of them.

If he's put on at one end the pressure can build; he also has the canny accuracy and ability to tie up a side for 20 overs, in a limited-overs game of 50 overs that is quite a chunk.

As for Shoaib Akthar, his reputation as the next Waqar Younis grows and with the left-arm fast bowler with the evil in-swinging yorker likely to be his partner, Pakistan have the bowling armoury to upset the more fancied Australia and West Indies in their Group B. Shoaib has matured since his trip to South Africa and his pace is impressive, but bowling fast is not everything on English surfaces.

Wasim has rebuilt Pakistan's image and reputation as a side whose limited-overs expertise and batting flair has been developed around the experience of Saeed Anwar, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Ijaz Ahmed. Salim Malik may command some respect and the relatively unknown Azhar Mahmood can be impressive if they find the right mood. Also, the eight wins in their last 11 LOIs since Wasim has been restored makes it a competitive side.

As in 1992 they are capable of either being squeezed out of the semi-finals or Wasim taking his side on a victory lap at Lord's on June 20, allowing Imran another indulgence: making further derogatory remarks about other countries not being up to it.

Statistics

• Team World Cup Records
• Team One-Day International Records
• Pakistan Statistics