The present team is similar to the one that won the World Cup in 1992.
KARACHI: I decided to do a quick analysis of each Pakistan team which played in previous world cups and came to the conclusion that the present team is similar to the one that won the World Cup in 1992.
Let’s consider the openers: We had Aamir Sohail (who was new to the World Cup) and Ramiz Raja in 1992 and now we Ahmed Shehzad (who is also playing for the first time in a World Cup) and Mohammad Hafeez who bowls like Aamir used to.
Then we have Younus Khan and Misbahul Haq who, at least as far as batting is concerned, seem to be like Imran Khan and Javed Miandad, in terms of experience and maturity. As for Umar Akmal, he can be compared to the Inzamam of 1992 when he was just starting out as a player.
Our bowlers in 1992 were Wasim Akram, Aaqib Javed, Saqlain Mushtaq, Imran Khan (who was injured and could not bowl), Aamir Sohail and Ejaz Ahmed. And this time we have Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Saaed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq. So while the team may be similar in many respects, the one key element that could decide success would have to be passion and self-belief. Imran Khan’s team of 1992 had that — the question is, does Shahid Afridi’s team have this quality as well?
Mubashir Mahmood
Published in The Express Tribune, February 15th, 2011.
