KANDY, Sri Lanka, (Reuters) – Pakistan are already safely through to the World Cup quarter-finals but coach Waqar Younis is putting a very high premium on their final “dead rubber” with Australia.
Victory in Colombo on Saturday could give the winners the top spot in Group A which would mean they would play the fourth-ranked side from Group B in the last eight.
“If you win, then you can leave a mark,” Waqar told reporters in Kandy after Monday’s seven-wicket victory over Zimbabwe saw them through.
“But the bigger thing is the momentum. Also beating the world champions will give us a lot more of a confidence booster.”
Australia, four-times champions and winners of the last three tournaments, have not lost a game in their last 33 World Cup matches since 1999.
Waqar knows that beating Australia will take a considerable improvement for his team which followed a super 11-run win over Sri Lanka on Feb. 26 by crashing to New Zealand on March 8.
ERROR-PRONE
They still have a concern behind the stumps although error-prone wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal followed a dismal performance against the Kiwis with a couple of safe catches against Zimbabwe.
There were suggestions among the media that Kamran’s younger brother Umar could take his place as wicketkeeper but in the event he pulled out against Zimbabwe because of injury.
Umar Akmal’s absence made room for young batsman Asad Shafiq to make his World Cup debut and he took the opportunity to hit a career-best unbeaten 78 leading the team to victory.
“He (Umar) didn’t play because he had a problem with his finger. He got hit the other day and he had twisted his ankle,” Waqar said.
“Asad Shafiq made a bit of difference because he is very compact and he played very sensibly. He is the future and is going to turn out to be one very good cricketer for Pakistan.”
Shafiq’s admirable innings masked another disappointing display from Pakistan’s top order batsmen.
The young openers Mohammad Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad have scored a paltry average of 15.4 runs for the first wicket in their first five World Cup group matches.
Afridi also has a headache rotating his bowlers. He tops the World Cup wicket-taking list on 16 with his leg-spinners but while Shoaib Akhtar still offers express pace in bursts, at 35 years old he now needs a longer recovery time.
“Shoaib Akhtar is no longer 22. That’s what one has to understand. He is in his mid 30s or the other side of the 30s,” Waqar added.
Wahab Riaz, 25, offers Afridi an affective replacement. “He is another bowler who bowls 145 (kph) and he is a left armer. It gives us a variety,” said Waqar.