WITH Pakistan struggling to make much impact in the Adelaide Oval blockbuster last Sunday, HARIS SOHAIL made a lasting, albeit brief, impression to suggest he is the ‘go-to-man’ for his team. Cruelly denied a maiden World Cup wicket when Kohli was given a life, Haris proved his worth with a compact knock of 36 before the mayhem.

Pakistan will be expecting Haris will make telling contributions against the temperamental West Indies. A maiden ODI century from the left-hander will not only take a lot of pressure off his chest but will also provide the stability his side has struggled to find thus far Down Under.

Haris has also emerged as a handy left-arm spinner who could be pressed into delivering the full quota of 10 overs in one of the coming matches.

NO team can afford to leave a couple of quality speedsters, such as PAT CUMMINS, on the sidelines like the Australians do by adopting a rotation policy to keep all of them fresh and fit for the next battle.

Cummins had his fair share of injuries after a sensational Test debut as an 18-year-old, taking a match bag of seven wickets to set up a thrilling two-wicket win to square the series against South Africa at the Wanderers three years ago.

If the Brisbane weather stays fine, the World Cup co-hosts could unleash a pace quartet on Bangladesh on what is expected to be a juicy Gabba track.

After missing selection for the opening clash against England at the MCG last Saturday, Cummins is keen to make his mark quickly enough.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Batting wise, this was worse than against Australia. We had three batsmen getting out to yorkers to a medium-fast bowler and they were playing the wrong line. [Eoin] Morgan lobs one to the outfield with plenty of overs to go. We’re yet to see if the death bowling has improved as the game didn’t get that far.”—Ex-England opener Geoffrey Boycott on the BBC.

STAT OF THE DAY

18 — the number of balls Brendon McCullum took to reach 50, the quickest-ever in World Cups and the third fastest in ODIs. The record for the fastest ODI fifty was made last month, by A.B. de Villiers, when he got to his 50 in 16 balls against the West Indies. McCullum also has the second quickest World Cup 50 (20 balls against Canada at St Lucia) .

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2015

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