Step by step…

Pakistan is in the Quarter Finals of Cricket World Cup 2015, is not news, now a day after team Pakistan snatched its spot out of Irish hands.

By now we also know that Pakistan will take on Australia in Adelaide on Friday 20^th of March.

We played two important matches in this ground in this tournament. The first one was against India and the result was not pleasing. The second one was a crunch game against Ireland and the results were favorable.

Although we might think that team Pakistan against India and against Ireland had a few personnel changes. However, in my opinion the greatest difference was the approach and team solidarity. I am not going to speculate, why Hafeez had to leave Australia or why Nasir Jamshed replaced him, when we have hard hitting experienced players in the waiting and I will also avoid speculating why Sohaib Maqsood is putting a drag on already weakened team Pakistan.

But to secure a win against Australia, which of course is not UAE, Zimbabwe or Ireland, we will need total dedication from players and a step by step plan for this game. I did not mean to devalue the associate teams. They played high-quality cricket during the tournament. But facts are facts. Ireland never made it into the knockout stage of a world cup, whereas Australia has 4 titles under its belt.

I am not a team selector or coach or captain and I don’t want to talk about what should they do, but I am sure that they also understand that the 15 March combination was a good one for this ground. Only if they would like to replace Sohaib Maqsood I will understand their motivations.

Our pacers are in good condition. Get Irfan back on his feet and let the spectators witness high quality pace attack. Australia and Pakistan have the best pace attack in this tournament. The only other team, which has such high-quality pacers is South Africa.

It will be a joy to see Mitchell Johnson and Wahab Riaz deliver some bullets. We have to remember that Wahab has bowled the tournament’s fastest ball until now (154kmph). He is taking wickets and so is Johnson.

Our opening partnership is more or less confident now, but we will need addition of an experienced player like Younus Khan to be able to face any probable outcome. We have tried Maqsood one too many times in this tournament and he is not dependable. Against Australia we should be ready to deal with a quick loss of wicket or wickets and this case Misbah can stand rock solid, but we cannot afford a collapse like against WI. We have to understand that Friday is the last chance. There will be no chances to make amends. That is why they call it the knockout stage.

The teams and the crowds are taking rest till Wednesday. I believe team Pakistan must also be celebrating and resting, as well as preparing for the Friday match. I only hope that no one from team Pakistan will not go to casinos for dinners. Because it is too early to eat at a casino.

As far as the other matches are concerned, India has a relatively easier match against Bangladesh. It does not mean that Bangladesh is a weak team, but who are we kidding here? India is in great form. They won all their pool matches. Of course it is a game of chance, but after beating Australia and as yet there is a big IF involved, we will most probably face India in the semi-finals. Are we ready for that?

I think we are ready. We are ready to take on Australia and beat it. Unless Bangladesh converts into a super team in the next two days, we will face India in the semis. I am confident that this time around we will be able to win against India.

But despite all my attempts I have again put the cart ahead of the horse. Let us wait till Friday evening and see if we will have the joy of taking on India in Australia. If team Pakistan will not think about a quick buck and if the players and management would concentrate only on cricket, we will celebrate on Friday. So keep your fingers crossed and your thoughts positive and we will win!!!