There was a time when Pakistan was one of the top
candidates for long, possible title campaigns, but that period has now passed.
Between 1987 and 1999, they made it to a semi-final, a final, and won a
championship, but since then, their World Cup performance has been
inconsistent. They have lost in the first round at three of the last five World
Cups, including the most recent one in 2019. Their only knockout victory this
century is a quarterfinal victory over the West Indies in 2011.
It’s a little paradoxical here. A little more than a
week ago, Pakistan was ranked No. 1 in the world, but their most recent two
matches have mostly overshadowed their previous achievements. They defeated
Afghanistan 3-0 in August and New Zealand 4-1 in May before destroying Nepal
and Bangladesh in the Asia Cup and giving India’s batters a bloody nose in a
game that was postponed due to bad weather. However, Pakistan’s Super Fours
performance was disastrous, as they lost to India by a margin of 228 runs and
then narrowly to Sri Lanka to be eliminated from the competition.
The biggest selection news for Pakistan is the
shoulder injury that has forced Naseem Shah out of the competition, prompting a
surprise recall for Hasan Ali, who hasn’t played ODI cricket since June 2022.
Usama Mir is added as a second legspinner as Pakistan decides not to use Faheem
Ashraf, a seam-bowling all-rounder, at all.
Shaheen Afridi’s key top-order destroyer role becomes
even more crucial for Pakistan in the absence of Naseem. Despite playing only a
little role, he finished the last World Cup with 16 wickets in 5 games and the
best average among the top 10. Only Mohammed Siraj among the fast bowlers
competing in this year’s World Cup has more ODI wickets than Shaheen.
Even though Saud Shakeel is far too old to fall into
this group, he is quietly finding his footing as the World Cup draws near. The
28-year-old, who wasn’t even in the white-ball conversation until a few weeks
ago, has recently started to transform his red-ball tenacity into with-ball
promise. With Pakistan’s middle order missing true quality, Shakeel’s arrival,
like most of his shots, might be perfectly timed. Shakeel put a lot of that on
display in a dazzling 53-ball 75 against New Zealand in the warm-up game.
While every member of that Pakistani team will still
be playing in 2027, Fakhar Zaman, 33, is likely making his final go at the
largest white-ball prize. Fakhar will probably play his part throughout the
competition, but it might be the last time he does so in an ODI World Cup.