sport news NASSER HUSSAIN: England will fear Pakistan's bowlers... but I'm backing Jos ... trends now

View
comments

Pakistan are simply mercurial. They can lose their first two games of this Twenty20 World Cup and be on the verge of going out but then they can win every game since and were handed a huge favour when the Netherlands defeated South Africa.

That sums Pakistan up and has been their story over the years. They are so talented and can put in world-class performances but they can also implode and crash out.

It is remarkable they are in the final against England. Everyone is comparing their progress to Imran Khan’s cornered tigers of 1992 and there are definite similarities.

Babar Azam has been criticised in the Pakistan media and by ex-players, just as Imran was all those years ago, and Babar had a little go back at them when they won their semi-final against New Zealand.

There is no question Pakistan’s strength lies in their bowling. They have had probably the best bowling attack in the competition, even in that agonising defeat by India right at the very start when only their last eight balls really let them down.

Their best bowler in Shaheen Shah Afridi did not play in the T20 series against England through injury and looked as if he might have come back too soon in this tournament. But he is getting stronger with every game and will pose a real threat tomorrow.

If the MCG pitch is the same one we saw earlier in the tournament, conditions could be a bit spicy for Shaheen and company, particularly with the rain around in Melbourne.

Pakistan did make a mistake against India by misreading the conditions and playing an extra batter and spinner when actually they should have played Mohammad Wasim.

That was a surprise, with Australians such as Matthew Hayden and Shaun Tait who know the conditions here so well in their backroom staff, but it is one they have corrected since.

Pakistan are a little similar to India in that their opening batters in Babar and Mohammad Rizwan still play slightly old-fashioned white-ball cricket, even though they did tee off against New Zealand.