PAKISTAN open their ICC World T20 campaign with the high-voltage clash against arch-rivals India. Like all Indo-Pak matches in the past, today’s game also promises to be a cracker-jack of a contest and the hype created around it already has millions of viewers across the globe anxiously awaiting its start.

Going by the results of the two warm-up matches that Mohammad Hafeez and his men played against New Zealand and South Africa this week, it is evident that Pakistan will have to work really hard in all departments of the game to make their mark in this prestigious event.

While the green-shirts were less than convincing in the first match against the Black Caps which they won by six wickets with only one ball to spare, they put up a horrible show in the second against South Africa, losing the match by eight wickets in a performance which one finds extremely hard to explain.

Yes, the Pakistan team has a reputation of being an unpredictable side and, perhaps, too much should not be seen in the team’s show in the two warm-ups. However, I must warn that in the Twenty20 format, the chances for teams to bounce back midway into a match are minimal and this factor may hurt Pakistan if they don’t put their act together quickly.

Our team is placed in the tougher of the two pools in the tournament where all teams including hosts Bangladesh, who scored back-to-back wins over Afghanistan and Nepal in the qualifiers, can test Pakistan’s abilities to the full.

The India game is followed by the gut-wrenching fixture against Australia while defending champions, the West Indies, are always dangerous opponents in this format.

There is no doubt that the current Pakistan outfit has loads of talent and a number of match-winners in their line-up who can turn the game on its head in matter of a few overs. Whether they can perform to their full potential in the matches ahead, however, remains the big question.

Opener Ahmed Shehzad, Hafeez, Sohaib Maqsood, Umar Akmal and Kamran Akmal are all dashing players who can be a handful for any side on their day. They are backed by seasoned all-rounders Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik while Sohail Tanvir can also use the long handle well in the lower order.

But despite the exciting names, a very crucial factor here will be Hafeez’s captaincy. I strongly feel that the skipper needs to constantly display his aggressive instincts as a leader or things can go awry for his team in this event.

Ideally, I would like to see Hafeez function in an attacking mode throughout this tournament, emulating the greats of the game such as Imran Khan, Ian Chappell and Clive Lloyd who always led from the front to put the opposition under pressure.

I would also like to see our batsmen improvise a bit more and think out of the box to outfox the opponent bowlers rather than accumulating their runs with boring mid-on, mid off strokes.

Recently, someone mentioned the deficiencies in our players’ techniques and how they need to improve it to excel in world cricket. Techniques surely hold the batsmen in good stead in Test cricket, and to some extent in the ODIs. However, in the T20 format, which is the slam bang kind of cricket, good techniques may not necessarily work wonders for the batsmen as they need to be bold and innovative to take maximum advantage from every delivery.

Now a word about our bowling and it is indeed in good hands in the presence of Saeed Ajmal, Afridi, Hafeez and Zulfiqar Babar as far as the slow bowlers are concerned.

The fast bowling cupboard, too, is not bare by any means with Umar Gul, Mohammad Talha, Junaid Khan and Bilawal Bhatti forming a formidable pace quartet.

Having said that, I would like to admit that I have my reservations over the manner in which our bowlers have been used in the limited over games of late and feel that bowling coach Mohammad Akram is not doing enough to get the best out of them.

Akram has now been working with the team for more than a year and a half but one cannot spot any marked improvement in the approach of either the slow bowlers or the faster ones.

One look at the recently-held Asia Cup statistics proves my point. Both Junaid and Talha, who are hardworking bowlers and generate a fair amount of pace, looked quite ordinary and were hit all over the park in the Asia Cup matches against Bangladesh who piled up a 300-plus total.

In the final against Sri Lanka, too, we failed to defend a decent total of 260 as the islanders convincingly won by five wickets.

At no juncture could I see our bowlers appearing as menacing in the Asia Cup as we know they can be, against the best of teams.

Secondly, no one seems to be telling them how to bowl according to the field and how to use their yorkers, googlies and shorter deliveries to confuse or shut out the batsmen in crunch moments. That scenario must change if we are to make the semi-finals or beyond in the World T20.

Pakistan must also keep in view some other key factors such as reading condition of the pitch and grooming the players to be good finishers like Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and a few others in contemporary cricket.

I well remember how former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq often stayed on to finish the game for Pakistan which was such a great sight. There was also that gifted Aussie Michael Bevan who took his team to safer shores against all odds on numerous occasions. I expect the Akmal brothers, Sohaib, Afridi, Hafeez and others to do the same for us in Bangladesh and with a genius like Moin Khan to guide them as head coach, I am confident that the team will put up a spirited show in the tournament.

The writer is a former Test cricketer and chief selector.