Going from one extreme to the other is a hallmark of any Pakistani cricket team. After putting up a great fight against a strong South African team in the test matches — during which a player actually ran away from host city Abu Dhabi to London, citing some death threats made to him by unknown sources, without telling the team management about the "threats" — there are fresh match-fixing allegations against five more players in the team.
Welcome to the life of a Pakistani cricket fan, where you cannot even hope to predict the result of a game as it changes faster than you can say "HOWZAT!" For unknown reasons, bowlers seem to be making this primal scream a way of appealing to umpires even though it sounds more like an expression of intense torture.
This makes predicting the Pakistani team's game much harder than the rest. Since we do not even know which first-team players will be allowed to take part in the competition, as bans are imposed on some players if the Cricket board does not like the shirt a player is wearing (I exaggerate only slightly), and various match-fixing allegations are sure to crop up, predicting results is nearly impossible. In my opinion, the mercurial Pakistani team will suffer in the World Cup. Even by their standards they have had a very volatile preparation in this crucial run-up to the tournament and it is bound to affect them severely.
Pakistan has a world-class bowler in Umar Gul, who on his day is virtually unplayable in the death-overs. "Boom-Boom" Shahid Afridi is one of the most devastating all-rounders in the game at the moment, and Pakistan has stability in the form of Mohammed Yousuf and Younis Khan. Pakistan always nurtures quality pace bowlers and we are bound to see some fresh talent taking the cricket community by storm during the World Cup. However, the rapid change in personnel, the fact that they are no longer the hosts of the World Cup, the various match-fixing allegations and the evergreen method of chopping and changing the captain of the team, has lead to a disastrous build up for the team and it will struggle to make as big an impact as they normally could. My prediction — quarter finalist.
South Africa: Chokers is the name the Proteas have been given due to their performances in the key games in the worldwide events. South Africa, without fail, provides an excellent team to these events but they almost always flatter to deceive during the crucial games and the reason has been attributed to weak mental strength — a very important part of a cricketer's game. Graeme Smith, the South African captain, has confidently said that they are eager to get this monkey off their backs. Those are bold words, but various South African captains have used them over the past two decades.
South Africa has the best opening fast-bowler in the world in Dale Steyn, the best all-rounder in the modern game in Jacque Kallis, an exciting and prolific batsman in AB de Villiers, and a great opening partnership in the form of Smith and Hashim Amla. They supplement that with excellent fielding, and it's easy to see why this team can take it to the next level and win a world cup. Their only weaknesses are a tendency to choke and a lack of a quality spinner that is imperative for pitches in the sub-continent. My prediction — semi finalist.
Next time, I will round out the predictions and talk about the Ashes tour that has finally started!
