Knee injury could end Shoaib's World Cup dream

[King]

Re: Knee injury could end Shoaib's World Cup dream You have far too many ifs and buts but I'm saying with the current situation in Pakistan cricket team they are out of place in this world cup. As someone that has followed Pakistan cricket fairly closely since long this is the worst ever team Pakistan has put together for the world cup ever (although the squad is not announced as yet). If they go on to the finals it will as big a shocker as Kenya making it to the semi finals in the last world cup. As a neutral I feel Pakistan's chances are very slim and suggest its fans to keep a lid on the expectations. Pakistan had way better team than the current one in the WC 2003 but fell short of producing good consistent results. Now to expect this team to do better than how they did in the previous version is asking for too much.

[MundaPakistani]

Re: Knee injury could end Shoaib's World Cup dream Well until March 2nd (cut off date from injury replacements) there will be ifs and buts....there is no person in this world that can say for sure who exactly will play for PAK. Secondly there are always problems in PAK cricket i remember back in 1992 PAK went in to the cup with out Waqar Younis who at that time was easily the most destructive bowler got injured on the eve of the WC, the team wasn't in good ODI form, Imran was having some serious problems with the selectors and when they finally got to AUS they went on to lose 4 out of the first 5 matches yet still came back to win the whole thing. So with out Shoaib it will not be easy to make it to the semis but the last thing you want to do is to write PAK off!

[Predator_05]

Re: Knee injury could end Shoaib's World Cup dream

Well until March 2nd (cut off date from injury replacements) there will be ifs and buts....there is no person in this world that can say for sure who exactly will play for PAK. Secondly there are always problems in PAK cricket i remember back in 1992 PAK went in to the cup with out Waqar Younis who at that time was easily the most destructive bowler got injured on the eve of the WC' date=' the team wasn't in good ODI form, Imran was having some serious problems with the selectors and when they finally got to AUS they went on to lose 4 out of the first 5 matches yet still came back to win the whole thing. So with out Shoaib it will not be easy to make it to the semis but the last thing you want to do is to write PAK off![/quote'] A repeat of '92 is impossible given that; 1) Inzamam sure as hell isn't an Imran Khan as far as leadership is concerned and 2) Rain is always going to be unlikely at this time of the year in this region, which rules out another lucky win via rain rules. I do agree with you when you say that one cannot write off Pakistan. Sure, they are a crap team over an extended period of time, ie; a full series - however, on their day they - like India - have a few matchwinners who can take a game by the scruff of the neck. Hence why i don't want to underrate their chances. Smack up 350 in one match, barely reach 100 the next. You never know what to expect, and they have what it takes to cause an upset. They got a long line of hard-hitting batsmen, and on tiny WI grounds that is enough reason to show them (a little bit of) respect

[yoda]

Re: Knee injury could end Shoaib's World Cup dream Last time it was Sachin, this time it is the knee. Poor shobby. :lmao:

[MundaPakistani]

Re: Knee injury could end Shoaib's World Cup dream

Well until March 2nd (cut off date from injury replacements) there will be ifs and buts....there is no person in this world that can say for sure who exactly will play for PAK. Secondly there are always problems in PAK cricket i remember back in 1992 PAK went in to the cup with out Waqar Younis who at that time was easily the most destructive bowler got injured on the eve of the WC, the team wasn't in good ODI form, Imran was having some serious problems with the selectors and when they finally got to AUS they went on to lose 4 out of the first 5 matches yet still came back to win the whole thing. So with out Shoaib it will not be easy to make it to the semis but the last thing you want to do is to write PAK off!

A repeat of '92 is impossible given that; 1) Inzamam sure as hell isn't an Imran Khan as far as leadership is concerned and 2) Rain is always going to be unlikely at this time of the year in this region, which rules out another lucky win via rain rules.

you are right about number 1...i was not predicting a WC win but i was merely giving an example of how PAK is used to playing with injuries and controversies. Totally disagree with you on the 2nd point..during the 92 WC PAK might have escaped with 1 point against ENG but were robbed of a win vs SA by that weird rain rule...the win would have given them 2 points so at the end of the day PAK should have ended up with 10 points.

I do agree with you when you say that one cannot write off Pakistan. Sure, they are a crap team over an extended period of time, ie; a full series - however, on their day they - like India - have a few matchwinners who can take a game by the scruff of the neck. Hence why i don't want to underrate their chances. Smack up 350 in one match, barely reach 100 the next. You never know what to expect, and they have what it takes to cause an upset. They got a long line of hard-hitting batsmen, and on tiny WI grounds that is enough reason to show them (a little bit of) respect

That's right...the unpredictabilty factor is the reason why it's very hard to see PAK win the whole thing but at the same time that's also the reason why you can't count them out.

[Predator_05]

Re: Knee injury could end Shoaib's World Cup dream

PAK is used to playing with injuries and controversies.

Apart from Inzamam, the current generation aren't.

Totally disagree with you on the 2nd point..during the 92 WC PAK might have escaped with 1 point against ENG but were robbed of a win vs SA by that weird rain rule...

22 needed off 13 before the rain rule reduced it to 22 needed off 1. SA wouldn't have got 22 off 13 in any event (especially with McMillan at the crease)...so i'd say England were well worth their win regardless of the D&L ruling

[King]

Re: Knee injury could end Shoaib's World Cup dream I don't know why anyone reckons why only Pakistan shouldn't be written off. Similarly you can't write off India or West Indies or even England. They play similarly too they can be gods one day and duds the next. Why is it only the phrase "Pakistan can't be written off" be used always? It can be used to all teams barring Aussies at the moment.

[Predator_05]

Re: Knee injury could end Shoaib's World Cup dream

I don't know why anyone reckons why only Pakistan shouldn't be written off. Similarly you can't write off India or West Indies or even England. They play similarly too they can be gods one day and duds the next. Why is it only the phrase "Pakistan can't be written off" be used always? It can be used to all teams barring Aussies at the moment.

You can't write off anyone in the top 6, IMO. You can with SL and ENG though, 'cos they are both dogsh*t.

[MundaPakistani]

Re: Knee injury could end Shoaib's World Cup dream

PAK is used to playing with injuries and controversies.

Apart from Inzamam, the current generation aren't.

Totally disagree with you on the 2nd point..during the 92 WC PAK might have escaped with 1 point against ENG but were robbed of a win vs SA by that weird rain rule...

22 needed off 13 before the rain rule reduced it to 22 needed off 1. SA wouldn't have got 22 off 13 in any event (especially with McMillan at the crease)...so i'd say England were well worth their win regardless of the D&L ruling

I was talking about Pakistan's match vs SA in the round-robin stage where SA were reduced to 211 of 50 overs yet the revised target after rain was 194 of mere 36 overs.

[Holysmoke]

Re: Knee injury could end Shoaib's World Cup dream

Last time it was Sachin' date=' this time it is the knee. Poor shobby. :lmao:[/quote'] :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: