THE World Cup’s first week has seen some extraordinary batting performances with teams getting close to or more than 300 runs quite comfortably.

The West Indies may have thought that they were in a safe place after posting more than 300 runs against Ireland, but the Irish showed they were not going to be cowed down. They not only got to the target but did it with deliveries to spare. The Ireland players were quick to suggest that it was not an upset which is strictly not correct if one goes by the ICC rankings.

Anytime a team beats another which is ranked above it, then it is an upset, and Ireland have made a habit of doing that in the previous World Cups too. The big question is whether they can sustain it and beat other teams ranked above it and be giant killers. If they do that, then they will make a compelling case to be considered for admission to the full members club.

Also read: We won the World Cup with a depleted bowling attack: Akram

The West Indians now play Pakistan, and with both teams having lost their first match they will be keen to open their account in the points table and secure as big a win as possible to improve the net run rate. Since the weather in New Zealand can be unpredictable and there could be games affected by rain, it is most crucial to win by a huge margin and better the net run rate.

Pakistan, in particular, will be hoping that its batting comes to the party. Ahmed Shehzad, Haris Sohail and Misbah-ul-Haq all batted well against India but could not play the defining innings that takes the team to a win.

Pakistan will also want to have a relook at its plan to use Umar Akmal as a wicketkeeper and have an extra bowler. They are missing Mohammad Hafeez because he gave them that additional bowler as well as being a top-order batsman. So in his absence they have to drop their regular keeper and use Akmal instead. That backfired, as Akmal muffed a simple catch off Virat Kohli that could have restricted India to 20 runs less.

It’s not that Sarfraz, the regular keeper, cannot bat, for he has saved Pakistan only a few months back and is going through a lean patch with the bat that comes to every cricketer. Look at the way India showed faith in Shikhar Dhawan, who responded with a fluent innings and had that big partnership with Kohli that set India nicely for the assault which unfortunately did not quite happen.

Pakistan is also missing Saeed Ajmal, for he was a wicket-taker who can change the game in a matter of overs. Pakistan do not have bowlers who can contain like Ajmal used to do, and with the new rules of field restrictions, life is tough for bowlers in limited overs cricket.

West Indies do not look like a unit at all. On the field, they seem to be in their own world. Clearly Holder has not been accepted as a skipper by everybody in the team, and that can happen when a player is not a certainty in the team. Holder is not an automatic selection in the team and so does not get the respect and response as a skipper. Having said that, only a foolish person can write off the West Indies. If they gel together, they can be hard to beat. Pakistan will take heart from what the Irish did and look to notch their first win in the competition which will give them the heart to go forward in the tournament. 

— By Special Arrangement for Dawn

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play