In his latest exclusive blog for PakPassion.net, the former Pakistan captain and member of the victorious World Cup team of 1992, Aamir Sohail, writes about Pakistan's preparations for the upcoming mega event where he discusses the impact of some key players including Mohammad Hafeez, Haris Sohail, Sarfraz Ahmed and Umar Akmal and assesses Pakistan's chances in the 2015 World Cup in light of his own memorable experiences in 1992. 

By Aamir Sohail (7th January, 2015)

Preparations for the World Cup

There seems to have been a lack of planning and foresight and vision ahead of the World Cup. There has been a lack of preparation and the irony is that with the World Cup around the corner, only three or four players from the squad have actually played in Australia before. The practice games ahead of the World Cup will be very important and will provide a gauge for how Pakistan will perform, as at the moment it's anyone's guess as to what will occur.

At the moment the preparations have been unsatisfactory plus the team combination is all over the place and unsettled.


Mohammad Hafeez

If his action was under observation by the ICC, then why bowl him in a Test match? It's mind boggling and tells you the story of the muddled thinking at times at the Pakistan Cricket Board.


The lack of impact players

Look at the changes in contemporary one day cricket, specifically the extra fielder inside the circle and two new balls being used. Look at the approach from other teams, you are seeing double hundreds being scored by individual batsmen. The extra fielder inside the circle is the push that a batsman needs to take on the bowling attack. It's all about impact players and how they manage to score more runs in the modern one day game. The rule is there for impact players and this rule is present to give the opportunity for impact players to score freely and at will. 

Sadly, Pakistan lacks impact players and that is why they have lost four one day series ahead of the World Cup. What also worries me is that Pakistan has been playing on some very flat tracks, what's going to happen when they come to bat on wickets which favour bowlers? It doesn't look very good at all to me and I'm not very hopeful of our chances at the World Cup.


Something special

Pakistan needs to come up with something special if they are to be serious contenders at the World Cup. I look at the strike rates of our batsmen and that concerns me. They don't seem to have that urgency about them.


Selection policy

For this World Cup the selectors have looked at the techniques of our batsmen. What they needed to look at was whether the batsmen they have picked will be effective on pitches in Australia and New Zealand. Whoever comes into power in Pakistan cricket says they are preparing a team for the World Cup, yet when it comes to the tournament we are in the same mess every time. What happened was that the selectors left themselves with no options at all. They left themselves with no options and put all their eggs in one basket and for that reason they couldn't make many changes to the batsmen named in the squad.


Fawad Alam

Whilst it is disappointing for Fawad that he was not selected, I have to admit that I don't rate him very highly. Technically he's not great and I think he would have struggled to make runs in Australia and New Zealand at the World Cup.


Sohaib Maqsood

My concern with his selection is about whether he is fit enough and whether he's played enough cricket of late. He's shown glimpses of his talent but I'm concerned about his form and fitness. He's no doubt a talent and a big hitter. He can do well if he can control his shot selection and maintain his fitness.


Umar Akmal

I don't think the problem is just with him. If he keeps on making the same mistakes then you have to look at the people around him; what are they doing, what have they taught him? His talent needs to be translated into performances. The problem is not just with Umar Akmal but also with the people around him, namely the coaching staff. Is he getting the right advice? 


Sarfraz Ahmed

There's talk of moving him up the order but I don't agree with that. I'm not in favour of makeshift openers or number three batsmen in Australia. If you want to gamble with the batting order it has to be a calculated gamble. If push comes to shove and Pakistan is desperate to move him up the order then they should do it only as a last resort and only after Sarfraz has batted a few times in the tournament.


Fitness levels of Pakistan's pace bowlers

I'm surprised at the number of injuries our pace bowlers are incurring these days. It's never been this bad. They hold these training camps and overburden the players without realising what the consequences are. You cannot treat horses like donkeys and donkeys like horses. They should have had individual training plans for each bowler not treat them all the same. Now look at the number of injuries after the last training camp, these camps simply do not work and there is a lack of thought going into these camps. 


Pakistan's bowling at the World Cup

With Saeed Ajmal ruled out and Mohammad Hafeez unlikely to bowl at the World Cup, then you have to circle around Shahid Afridi and hope that he delivers with the ball. As for Pakistan's pace bowlers, they will have their work cut out and they'll need to learn very quickly or they'll get hammered. A good ball in Pakistan can be a bad ball in Australia. People say Pakistan's batsmen struggle in Australia, but it's usually the Pakistani pace bowlers who don't perform there. This will be the ultimate test of the Pakistan think-tank.


Haris Sohail

It was very encouraging to see Haris perform with the bat and the ball against New Zealand. I mentioned Haris a long time ago as a young player to watch and he needs to be encouraged. However he has one or two technical flaws when batting and they could be exposed in Australia if he doesn't iron them out. The main issue is to do with his set-up and his initial trigger movements when batting which the coaching staff need to address. However both Haris Sohail and Sohaib Maqsood could be Pakistan's stand out batsmen at the World Cup.


The World Cup chances

For Pakistan to win the World Cup as my team mates and I did in 1992, the current group of players have to show cricketing intelligence, show their experience and get the basics right. The preparation as mentioned earlier has not been great so far and they need to make up for that when they land in New Zealand and then Australia. You cannot prepare by playing on dead pitches. Some soul searching has to be done and the players and coaching staff need to sit down, come up with a solid game plan and show their cricketing sense.

Discuss!