Pakistan must stick with winning formula for Bangladesh showdown
It’s still hard to know what to think about this Pakistan team.
The win over Afghanistan was not the performance of champions and yet, somehow and some way, they are still in contention for a semi-final spot and you can never write them off.
Look at the history of our team and it has always been like this.
Two years ago in the Champions Trophy we scratched and scrounged, got smashed by India and could have lost to Sri Lanka and then went on to win it all.
This past year has been a poor one for Pakistan as well, and yet here we are.
Even back in 1992, the best year Pakistan cricket has ever known, they started badly before they turned it around.
These parallels with 27 years ago are almost impossible to ignore at this point.
It is actually becoming quite scary at this point! Is history repeating itself? I have no idea but if Pakistan do make it to the semi-finals then they are going to be such a dangerous side.
For that to happen they will need some results to go their way, but most importantly of all they will have to beat Bangladesh.
To beat Bangladesh they will have to play better than they managed against Afghanistan.
That was a pretty poor showing and, to be brutally honest, you have to say that Afghanistan lost that game with some silly mistakes.
But what a roller-coaster ride it is to be a Pakistan supporter and a win at a World Cup is still a win. You cant worry too much about the manner of the victory — the win is all that matters.
We were so lucky to escape and survive and still be floating in this World Cup — really it was thanks to Imad Wasim.