Can Pakistan be considered favourites for the 2023 World Cup in India?

[Sajjad-007]

Asian condition a good bunch of players and a batting myestro what else we need for a triumph. Now the squad should be somewhat like this:

1) Imam
2) Fakhar
3) Babar
4) Rizwan
5) A. Safik
6) Iftikar
7) Khusdil
8) M. Harris
9) Nawaz
10) Shadab
11) Qadir
12) Shaheen
13) Hasan
14) Rauf
15) Dhani

Your thoughts?

[pratiktc]

Batting is good and should be at peak by WC

Bowling is iffy. Need 2 pacers to support Shaheen and if one of them can bat nothing like it

Also need a quality fingerspinner to support Shadab.

[Kaddy]

Batting is good and should be at peak by WC

Bowling is iffy. Need 2 pacers to support Shaheen and if one of them can bat nothing like it

Also need a quality fingerspinner to support Shadab.

Middle order is not very strong either.

[Babeikh]

India will be favourites simply because the world cup is in India.

However I expect we will see Pakistan and Sri Lanka do well too. Even Afghanistan might have a good tournament, The conditions will suit our teams.

[Ab Fan]

In subcontinent conditions, India have good odi team too. Prasidh seems to be that wicket taker which India needs and his stats back that. Iyer and Pant are also good middle order batsman in subcontinent conditions. Jadeja is also good in subcontinent.

[Titan24]

All the subcontinental teams will fancy their chances to compete well. India and Pakistan might have a better chance to make it to the top 4 but, teams like Srl, BD are not going to be easy opponents in these conditions. Even Afghanistan can have some potential surprises in store.

[DeadlyVenom]

No not favourites, certainly in with a shout though.

There are major weaknesses in the lower middle order and apart from shaheen&shadab the rest of the bowling spots are up for grabs.

[IMMY69]

Not sure why Khusdil wasn't given a bowl in the ODI series.
He seemed pretty handy with the ball in the PSL and could be our third spinner / back-up bowler in India..

[Waleed93]

The batting is heavily over-reliant on the top order.

Babar's early wicket literally means we are not reaching 300+ at the end of 50 overs.

The middle order is non-existent at the moment, they have to find long-term replacements for the likes of Khushdil, Nawaz etc...

Rizwan has been living off his T20Is exploits and he quickly needs to settle in this format, otherwise Pakistan needs to move on and find a reliable and consistent batsman at number 4.

The bowling attack is all about Shaheen at the moment. Shadab could be dangerous in Indian conditions, but I don't expect Hasan and Haris to do any kind of wonders.

Opposition batsmen will smash them both out of the park, which will just create more pressure on Imam and Babar to score runs with the scoreboard pressure.

Overall, a very unbalanced squad, whose real level is being hidden by consecutive batting masterclasses from Babar.

Apart from Imam, Shaheen, Babar, and to an extent Fakhar (for the X-factor he brings), all the others need to bring in massive changes in their game if they want to even challenge for the WC.

[Amjid Javed]

batting is way over hyped.

Pakistan regularly are poor with bat in 1st 10 overs (Fakhar takes time getting in and imam selfishly never takes risks)

Also imam, Babar and rizwan all bat same way, slow at start at try and speed up later. when chasing this just causes req run rate to go up and adds pressure to number 5 onwards.

Batting 1st same approach and if we lose wickets we are left with untested batsmen, bits and pieces players having to bat long inns which they cant do.

Series wins over under strength SA snd Aus have got fans over excited. The batting will be exposed against better full strength sides during world cup.

Are batting even in 3-0 win vs WI was pretty average, WI just not being great didnt take advantage of that.

[sweep_shot]

Pakistan have a good chance. Indian pitches should suit Pakistan.

[Amjid Javed]

The batting is heavily over-reliant on the top order.

Babar's early wicket literally means we are not reaching 300+ at the end of 50 overs.

The middle order is non-existent at the moment, they have to find long-term replacements for the likes of Khushdil, Nawaz etc...

Rizwan has been living off his T20Is exploits and he quickly needs to settle in this format, otherwise Pakistan needs to move on and find a reliable and consistent batsman at number 4.

The bowling attack is all about Shaheen at the moment. Shadab could be dangerous in Indian conditions, but I don't expect Hasan and Haris to do any kind of wonders.

Opposition batsmen will smash them both out of the park, which will just create more pressure on Imam and Babar to score runs with the scoreboard pressure.

Overall, a very unbalanced squad, whose real level is being hidden by consecutive batting masterclasses from Babar.

Apart from Imam, Shaheen, Babar, and to an extent Fakhar (for the X-factor he brings), all the others need to bring in massive changes in their game if they want to even challenge for the WC.

Excellent Summary.

[ChTab]

Favorites yeah right 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Under the current format Pakistan will have to play extremely well to qualify for the semi's & that's pretty much it. We can't go beyond the semi's there are too many good teams like we have a mental block vs Aus in crunch games, same vs India though we have beaten them in the T20's in the WC but their streak is still alive in 50 over World Cup.

So my conclusion with current Pakistani squad and the format of the WC we would be extremely lucky if we reach the semi's. In a realistic world I'd expect them to not qualify for the semi's maybe by a point or 2.

[pratiktc]

People are again underestimating consistent batters.

In all subcontinent World cups by the end of tournament, wickets are tired and scores rarely surpass 300.

The knockout games will all be 250-300 affairs. Don't need to worry about not having Maxwell, Pandya type hitters to try and push envelope for 350+ scores. Sedate players like Imam, Babar, Rizwan will be perfect for this.

Bowling also Hasan is a quality player and once he gets some rhythm will be the perfect 3rd seamer for Shaheen and Rauf with his variety and hitting power. Faheem should also be given chances in next 1 yr to keep him ready as a backup

It is Shadab and Nawaz who have to step up to plate. They are not a patch on the magic of Afridi+Ajmal in 2011 but need to fill those boots to best extent possible

[shamaan]

Batting is good and should be at peak by WC

Bowling is iffy. Need 2 pacers to support Shaheen and if one of them can bat nothing like it

Also need a quality fingerspinner to support Shadab.

I think dahani will take one of them bowling positions alongside wasim Jnr.

[shamaan]

Pakistan should make the Semi Final but they need a reliable number 5.

[indianpanacea]

Imam
A.shafique
Babar
Haris Sohail
Kamran Ghulam
Rizwan
Shahdab

[hitthestump]

If we're going to be seeing par scores of 320+ in India then Pakistan can't match the firepower of other teams.

If pitches are lower and slower then...

[Nikhil_cric]

The No.3 ODI team should definitely make the semis atleast . Pakistan are, honestly, probably the most likely team to knock out England as well. Wouldn't be a stretch to call Pakistan favourites for 2023 .

[Sunzi]

Missing a couple of bowlers and middle/lower-middle order bats to be a real force in all formats let alone WC faves.

[Unbiased-Fan]

If the format is similar to the 2019 World Cup, then the chances of Pakistan reaching the semifinals seem very low.
Teams mostly field their B teams when facing Paksitan. They haven't played against some competitive opposition in this format from a long time.
Australia, India, England will surely play semis. Pakistan will have to give tough fight to Newzealand and Bangladesh for the 4th spot.

[arif_2021]

If pakistan win - iA they do, it will be a big stain on Indian cricket

[Punjab Kings]

If pakistan win - iA they do, it will be a big stain on Indian cricket

Don't forget DRS.......

[arif_2021]

Don't forget DRS.......

I didnt. How can I? Watched it live. Pathetic.