Shoaib Mohammad: Pakistan need not fear Australia

Shoaib Mohammad 17:38 19/03/2015
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  • Irfan (l) will be a big miss for Pakistan but Shah (c) could benefit from his absence while Warner and Finch (r) will pose a real threat.

    The stage cannot be any better for Pakistan to be facing co-hosts Australia in the quarter-finals of the Cricket World Cup. It’s win or bust – defeat would see their tournament come to an end, while victory could seriously pave the way for Pakistan to regain their crown after 23 long years.

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    Before examining Pakistan, a good point of contrast is Sri Lanka and their elimination. The Islanders started the tournament with a bang and kept on producing top performances match after match – but they peaked too early. One bad day was always around the corner and they duly met their fate against South Africa, and bowed out of the competition.

    It has been a totally different kind of tournament for Pakistan. Opening defeats to India and West Indies left no room for mistakes and their passage to the quarter-finals became less and less likely. But Pakistan lifted themselves with good performances, winning four straight matches to storm into the last-eight and they seem to be peaking at the right time with momentum in their favour. And co-hosts Australia should not be feared.

    I firmly believe that victory here will be the catalyst for World Cup glory, even if South Africa or New Zealand await in the final.

    First, though, Pakistan have to win. Australia are playing in their own backyard and their legion of fans will be behind them and firmly against the Men in Green. But, speaking from experience, I actually always found playing at home tougher than playing away as the expectations are so much higher when a team is playing on their own turf. The crowd wants the players to put on extraordinary performances at every opportunity and the players can sometimes feel the heat of fulfilling those demands. The home crowd could well be a double-edged sword for Australia.

    On the field, Australia will be more than pleased to see the back of Mohammad Irfan – who has sadly been ruled out by injury – as they will not have to deal with a bowler who is more alien to batsmen compared to other pacers.

    Minus Irfan, Australia hold the advantage on a pitch suited to fast-bowlers in Adelaide, something which would not be asmuch of a worry had Pakistan been able to call on the services of Irfan.

    For sure, Australia cannot gamble on a similar pitch to the one used in the Pakistan vs Ireland match as it would hand the ascendency to the likes of Shahid Afridi, Haris Sohail and Yasir Shah in the Pakistan ranks.

    Even though it is an ICC event, those who have played top-level cricket know that home sides do get the advantage of preparing a pitch in their favour.

    But Irfan’s unavailability is a cloud with a silver lining. It gives Pakistan the chance to include Yasir as another spin option, something which looked impossible after the success of their quicks in the tournament so far.

    If the pitch on the day suits spinners then Pakistan must play Yasir instead of Ehsan Adil, partly due to Yasir’s previous success against Australia and his more potent threat to their opposition than the medium pacer.

    Australia’s mindset is to attack the bowling by utilizing the pace of the ball and destroy fast-bowlers with their brute force. To combat this, Pakistan can pick three spinners in their ranks to trouble the Aussies and not provide them with the pace they enjoy facing.

    Even if wickets fall early, Australia do not change their approach and that is where spinners can force mistakes.

    As far as the batting is concerned, Pakistan would struggle to accomodate Younis Khan if they decided to bring him back for the crunch match.

    I had written in my earlier article that it would be now difficult to bring back Younis after dropping him against Ireland, despite an important 37-run knock in their pivotal win over South Africa. If they bring him back, then one of Sohaib Maqsood or Umar Akmal will make way, but on what grounds?

    Umar Akmal remained unbeaten against Ireland, while Sohaib did not get the chance to bat so neither has done anything to justify a demotion.

    There is another way to fit Younis into the side and that is to beef up the batting order at the expense of a bowler. This could be done by replacing Ehsan with Younis, allowing Pakistan to utilise Haris as a fifth bowler in support of Shahid Afridi, Wahab Riaz, Rahat Ali and Sohail Khan.

    Interestingly, both Pakistan and Australia banked on two different individuals to lead their attack but have ended up finding new spearheads.

    Irfan came into the tournament as Pakistan’s top gun but it has been Wahab Riaz who has emerged as the star, bowling with aggression and pace.

    Similarly, Mitchell Johnson was supposed to be Australia’s most potent weapon, however, it is Mitchell Starc who has caused the most damage and is bearing the workload of the bowling attack.

    Having said that, Johnson will still be the biggest threat for Pakistan because of his ability to generate extra speed and bounce which prove to be Pakistan’s undoing. He is one such bowler who has got the aggression and personality which always puts our team under pressure, with most of our batsmen playing on reputation, bar one or two more brave lads.

    If Sarfaraz Ahmed gets going, he could rip apart Starc whereas Johnson could still trouble our in-form opener and man of the moment. Pakistan must not give away a wicket in first 10 overs in a bid to seize the initiative early on and create nerves amongst the Australia team and the partisan crowd.

    Ahmed Shahzad, Misbah-ul-Haq and Shahid Afridi have to take the responsibility because these are the senior members of the squad, while Umar Akmal has shown previously that he likes hitting the quick bowlers of Australia.

    It is my gut feeling that Afridi will shine, with the stage set for a big performance from Boom Boom. As that old saying goes; cometh the hour, cometh the man. Afridi is someone who can stand taller than the rest and he will be eyeing leaving international cricket on a high with a grand performance on the biggest stage.

    Touching on the Australian batting, Glenn Maxwell and Shane Watson will hold the key although there are other superstars who are a force to reckon with. But these two are especially dangerous as they are game changers in the middle overs and can finish strongly at the death.

    For Pakistan the plan will be to get two or three quick wickets no matter whether they bowl first or second, to put the hosts on the back foot. Failure in doing so could see David Warner or Aaron Finch play a big knock.

    If one of these big hitters stayed at the crease, Australia’s total could end up huge.

    The Men in Green should play positively and fight like it is a final as the victory in this encounter would certainly ease the task of reclaiming the glory they last tasted in 1992.  

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