Adil Najam
Part of me thinks that I should wait until the current World Cup match against host and co-favorites Sri Lanka ends. But another part insists that no matter what the result of the game, the point is made: Pakistan is indeed a contender. Mercurial, unpredictable, sometimes spectacular, often its own worst enemy (and that could happen in this game too), but never shy of upsets and surprises (in its own favor and against!).
So, what do you think: Is Pakistan a contender? And now two two games done and every team already having played, how do you evaluate Pakistan’s chances in the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup? Is our readers’ assessment of the team’s chances the same it was two weeks ago, or has it changed. Have your say.
Of course, one game does not change the course of a tournament. And even this game is not done at the time of writing this post. But this is no ordinary game. Along with India, Sri Lanka is being talked about as the other favorites. But more importantly, this is the first serious test of Pakistan in quite a while and at least till this point in the game, Pakistan has made quite a game of this. Is this a flash in the pan or indicator of things to come? And that, before we even know how the flash will end! Even so, if you want to place your money on them, you can easily do so on platforms like Kcasino.
I use the word ‘contender’ to mean a team that one should seriously consider as a possible winner. Not just because it can surprise, but because if it would pull off a win it would not necessarily be a surprise. Are we there yet? Can we get there?
Enough said. Now, you have your say.
Yes they are their own enemies. But i do believe that they can bring the cup home if they can keep on playing united.
Fielding was a damn bad story of today. Everything else is fine
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Some comments from the ATP Facebook Page:
– “Certainly…”
– “All the best to Pakistan cricket team… May u win the World cup and bring the cup home!!”
– “Pakistan just beat Sri Lanka by 13 runs, So I would say most definitely”
– “yay Pakistan good team work♥”
– “men in green @ star crescent ,,,,,, great team”
– “Pakistan on top in Group A, with the Net Run Rate of 3.18 and 4 points by winning both the games! Australia is second one after Pakistan with the Net Run Rate of 3.06.”
Timely post. My worry is a different one.
Pakistan goes through peaks and lows. I fear our peak (high point) has come too early and we may run out of steam by the time the quarterfinals come.
At that stage you need consistent victories. One loss and you are out. No room for mistakes. So, I fear that our team could run out of steam by then. I hope that does not happen.
Pakistan will always be a contender, but I’m not confident they’ll progress further than the quarter finals. However, anything can happen in the knockout stages, and the way Pakistan have started is a good omen. Can they win three successive knockouts against the top teams? All their fans will be hoping they can!
Too early to say. No one ever doubts that Pakistan can beat a good team on a good day (it did that today). The question is whether Pakistan can do this consistently. That question has not yet been answered. If that happens then Pakistan will be a contender.