Cricket has been plagued by so much controversy of late due to the spot-fixing allegations, that most Pakistanis have no hope that we can win matches in the World Cup 2011, and most are far from assuming that we will even dream to reach the final.
I strongly disagree.
I am pretty confident that our team – yes, the Pakistan cricket team – will win this World Cup and bring cricket and the trophy back to Pakistan.
Our players can take on the world
We must not forget that we have had wins along with the losses, and what we can learn from global cricketing tournaments like the T20 is that we can do a lot better when playing with different teams rather than playing a single series with the same team.
We have world class players who will (hopefully) be part of the final World Cup squad that will take on the world. Players like Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Akhtar, the Akmal brothers, Younus Khan and Saeed Ajmal are those who played in past T20 tournaments and have the experience to cope with pressure in difficult situations.
If we look at these players and their class individually, you will see we have the best:
Abdul Razzaq: The vampire of Pakistan cricket who does not seem to be ageing is the same as he was in the 1999 World Cup.
Umar Gul: The robot of in-swinging fast bowling and Yorkers can bowl all 60 deliveries in his spell wherever he wants to.
Saeed Ajmal: A man who plays the game with a cool head and bowls every ball to take wicket. Have you seen the doosra?
Mohammad Hafeez: The quick fielder who owns the field once he’s on the ground.
Shoaib Akhtar: Our giant raging bull whose talent needs no description. Watching any Youtube video of how he silences the whole world with his bowling is proof enough . Great cricketers like Brian Lara, Gary Kirsten and Sourav Gangully have fallen to the ground against his bowling.
Shahid Afridi: Last but not the least, the don of Pakistan cricket. Everyone knows that once he starts batting there isn’t enough firepower in the world to take his wicket.
I will pray that our players win outright until they reach their destiny in Mumbai, grabbing gold and bringing it home with great positive hope for our youngsters and cricket in Pakistan.
