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One trophy, 16 contenders and bragging rights on the line, the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia is just a day from commencement. All the 16 teams, who will participate in the marquee tournament Down Under, are now undergoing their final stretches of preparations. One of those teams is Pakistan, who won the multi-national tournament in 2009, two years after failing to cross the final hurdle. The Men in Green are one of the favourites to clinch the glittering silverware in Australia and their recent form puts them in good stead to achieve the goal.
Babar Azam's men recently won the T20 tri-series tournament featuring New Zealand and Bangladesh and delivered a resounding statement ahead of the World Cup. Pakistan are desperate to win their second T20 World Cup title, and truth be told, the team has the requisite pieces to reign supreme Down Under. Let's take a look at Pakistan's strengths and weaknesses before the ICC tournament kicks off.
India vs Pakistan
In 2022, Pakistan have played 19 T20I matches, winning 10 fixtures in the process while losing tasting defeats in the remaining nine contests. Babar Azam's men reached the final of the Asia Cup 2022 competition but surrendered against an inspired Sri Lankan team in the final. Pakistan then competed in a seven-match fiercely-contested T20I series against England at home, which they ended up losing by a narrow margin of 3-4. But just when it mattered the most, the Men in Green got their act together and won the recently-concluded tri-series in New Zealand.
Pakistan will start their campaign against arch-rivals India on October 23 (Sunday) at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). The two teams will square off against each other for the fourth time in a span of a year. Pakistan trounced India by 10 wickets in the T20 World Cup match last year in UAE while both teams registered a win against each other in the Asia Cup 2022.
Strength
Pakistan's biggest strength is their opening pair of captain Babar Azam and wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan. The duo has been in sensational form in the last couple of years and it has forced world-class bowling attacks into submission through stylish stroke-making ability. In the 2021 T20 World Cup, Babar and Rizwan inflicted a 10-wicket defeat on India as Indian bowlers failed to dislodge Pakistan's opening partnership.
In 2022 so far, Rizwan has scored the most runs in the shortest format of the game. The wicketkeeper-batter has scored 821 runs in 18 matches with the help of nine half-centuries at an average of 54.73. On the flip side, Babar has scored 611 runs in 19 matches with the help of four half-centuries and one ton.
Apart from Babar and Rizwan, Pakistan's fast-bowling unit is probably the best in the tournament and it has been bolstered by fit again Shaheen Afridi.
Weakness
Pakistan's biggest weakness is their fragile middle order. Whenever Babar and Rizwan succumbed early, the rest of the batters in the line-up displayed a lack of game awareness and were proven guilty of throwing their wickets away cheaply on far too many occasions. The Men in Green's middle order consists of dashing batters like Khushdil Shah, Shan Masood, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed and Asif Ali, but none of the batters have succeeded in playing match-winning innings multiple times.
Pakistan's fielding has proven to be their Achilles heel in a crunch or high-pressure situation. In the Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka, Pakistan's fielders were a complete abomination, which ultimately cost them the title. In the 2021 T20 World Cup semi-final against Australia, Matthew Wade's drop catch proved to be the decisive factor as well.
Pakistan's schedule
Match 1: Pakistan vs India, Melbourne, October 23 (Sunday)
Match 2: Pakistan vs B1, Perth, October 27 (Thursday)
Match 3: Pakistan vs A2, Perth, October 30 (Sunday)
Match 4: Pakistan vs South Africa, Sydney, November 3 (Thursday)
Match 5: Pakistan vs Bangladesh, Adelaide, November 6 (Sunday)
Pakistan squad for T20 World Cup: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shan Masood.
Traveling reserves: Mohammad Haris, Shahnawaz Dahani and Usman Qadir.
