After survival from so many internal and external dramatic situations, the world is stunned to see the overcoming possession of Team Pakistan that collect to control right before falling apart; as many experts suggested! Team Australia is now looking upon their quarter final competitors with fury as well as admiration.
It is easily explicable that Australia is profoundly favored for the World Cup 2015 quarter final that will be held on March 20 at the Adelaide Oval stadium. The team is rock strong, with players that are so high in spirit along with expertise that they can not easily be defeated. On the other side, Pakistan is unpredictable as always; who can turn tables on both sides. Australia is not taking Pakistan that easy. As Shane Watson provided quite distinctive synopsis on this approach, as he asserted:-
“Pakistan is dangerous, but almost as much to themselves as they are to Australians, (since) they have in (earlier) times I’ve played against them, but they also can self-destruct (quite quickly) as well. We know we are going to have to be at our (absolute) best to not give them a chance to be able to get that momentum. We know if they’re able to get that they can run away with it very quickly.”
Watson further prolonged:-
“That’s the reason why (the) Pakistan team is so dangerous, especially in a knockout game like this quarter-final. They’ve certainly got some match-winners (‘many’ would be the right word!)”.
With a “keep calm and carry on” message, Australia has made its strategy however, they still fear their rival when Pakistan get on the roll, seems quite diverse. Just before World cup 2015, Pakistan has given their quarter final competitors every reason to be confident enough by beating 3-0 in the ODI series. Despite of the worst and lifeless wicket keeping from Pakistan, the match turned exciting by batsmen until only 2 runs required in the final over bowled by Maxwell, Pakistan lost final two wickets without getting a single run. The whole stadium was astonished; even the Australian supporters didn’t believe it at first.
Now, the eyes are on this most awaited quarter final that can be interesting and entertaining, all in the hands of Team Pakistan. There are recent changes made in the squad as Pakistan’s fast bowler Mohammed Irfan has now been ruled out from the tournament because of his stress fractured pelvis. Team management’s call for replacement is delayed and conditioned to winning the quarter final. The batting order is still unforeseen and after Mohammed Irfan’s injury, most of the pressure is on the batting line. Batsmen are always in façade with challenges in ODI’s; especially the Team Pakistan ones. If they are made to bat on an impish pitch, even reticent targets become tricky to achieve. This situation easily disintegrates Pakistan and they leave their supporters shocked with extraordinary defeats. The only optimism left for Pakistani supporters is Sarfaraz Ahmed. Anyone looking for a Pakistani hash tag on twitter lately should see how this person made it possible for Pakistan! Phrased as “son of a poor man” in Dubai’s press box, captained the ‘under-19 Team Pakistan’ that obtained World cup 2006 the player surely has got expertise to formulate a defeat into a victory.
Australia on the other hand, has a better composition of team players; however, Watson’s profile is a bit average with 0 and 23 in first two games, hit 67runs against Sri Lanka on his return at Sydney and now down to play at number 5 or 6 instead of his regular third spot. Whose in for the Spin then?
Australia vs Pakistan Team Squad:
Australian Team:
AJ Finch, SPD Smith, DA Warner, MA Starc, JR Hazlewood, BJ Haddin, SR Watson, PJ Cummins, MJ Clarke, MG Johnson, MR Marsh, JP Faulkner, XJ Doherty, GJ Bailey, GJ Maxwell
Pakistan Team:
Sohaib Maqsood, Nasir Jamshed, Younis Khan, Wahab Riaz, Haris Sohail, Yasir Shah, Misbah-ul-Haq, Sohail Khan, Rahat Ali, Mohammad Irfan, Umar Akmal, Sarfraz Ahmed, Shahid Afridi, Ahmed Shehzad, Ehsan Adil
