World Cup: Pakistan's big boys back for West Indies

The time for experiments, ifs and buts, finger-pointing, second chances, and ‘easy’ games is effectively over. Reputations can go take a walk and past records will remain just that.

Come Wednesday and an awry shot, a poor delivery, a Nehra-like piece of fielding, an Akmal bit of wicketkeeping and a De Silva kind of goof-up (thank God, he’s been omitted) could prove disastrous, and the consequences irrevocable.

Welcome to the knock-out stage of the World Cup where the line between success and failure is bound to be wafer-thin, while the resultant ecstasy or agony could well last a lifetime, sometimes two. Forty-two matches and 32 days later, eight of the most deserving teams (sorry Bangladesh) have made the quarterfinals of the premier competition in world cricket.

Pakistan and the West Indies have that unwanted fortune of kick-starting proceedings at the magnificent Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium here. And yes, this could, by far, be the most crunch match of the four quarterfinal games. It would be shocking if any of India, South Africa and Sri Lanka fail to progress. This one, though, could be anyone’s game. And the fact that it involves two of the most unpredictable sides is, perhaps, just a coincidence.

Pakistan go into the game with five wins from six games, the latest being a morale-boosting victory over four-time and defending champions Australia. Manager Intikhab Alam is obviously a happy man who feels his boys are in top shape. “One loss against New Zealand and everybody wrote us off. But we never got tense. Eventually, we finished at the top of the table,” he smiled.

That smile could go away quickly if Chris Gayle, Kemar Roach and Shivnarine Chanderpaul fire on Wednesday. The stand-and-deliver opener’s stint at the nets pleased his skipper, Darren Sammy, and the good news is that he can’t wait to bat. Roach, who, like Gayle, missed the India game, is also back.

And that means we won’t see a pumped-up Ravi Rampaul on song. And so is the ever-reliable Chanderpaul, who, for some reason, wasn’t part of the West Indies scheme of things for the last few games. His below-par form (70 runs in three innings) may have been the reason, but sanity has finally prevailed. The Windies had three wins from six games, but none of them came against the big teams.

Chanderpaul’s inclusion means one of pacer Andre Russell or leggie Devendra Bishoo may sit out. Devon Thomas, who has made just 41 runs in six games could also be benched, but that means Darren Bravo will have to station himself behind the stumps.

Pakistan, for a change, look the more settled outfit, thanks mainly to their bowlers. Skipper Shahid Afridi, who tops the charts, medium-pacer Umar Gul, all-rounder Abdul Razzaq and Wahab Riaz have all made the ball talk. The attack is potent that someone like Shoaib Akhtar is sitting out. Their batsmen, though, barring the old guard of Misbah-ul-Haq and Younus Khan, and the exciting Asad Shafiq, haven’t played to their potential. If the Akmal brothers — Kamran and Umar — get going, then Afridi will have one problem less to tackle.

It remains to be seen if Afridi will play an extra off-spinner — Saeed Ajmal — to counter the very many southpaws in the opposition. “That’s an option. We will take a call. We have (Mohammad) Hafeez already, but yes, Ajmal is an option,” the skipper said. There was nothing ‘Pakistani’ about Pakistan on Tuesday. Maybe we’ll see ‘them’ on Wednesday