ICC World Twenty20, 2007-08
'Pakistan and India are likely to disappoint'
September 7, 2007
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Concluding his analysis of the teams in the ICC World Twenty20, Ian Chappell looks at India and Pakistan who are pitted against each other in Group D of the competition, along with Scotland.
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Pakistan
Pakistan is its usual self - a skilled rabble. Only, this time they're a little bit down on ability; with Inzamam-ul-Haq retired and Mohammad Yousuf enchanted by the Indian Cricket League's dollars, the Pakistan middle order - which has been the life-blood of their batting - has been severely diluted.
Also, the omission of Abdul Razzaq has reduced - by 50 per cent - the dangerous power-hitting duo he formed with Shahid Afridi. Pakistan will struggle to put enough runs on the board, which is an even greater concern when you consider that their fielding is likely to remain butter-fingered and unathletic.
This is a pity, because the pace bowling is potentially strong, especially if Shoaib Akhtar returns to his best form. He and Mohammad Asif are an imposing dual-strike threat and Iftikhar Anjum and the fast-improving Umar Gul are good back-up pacemen.
Afridi and skipper Shoaib Malik are handy spinners but Pakistan may have robbed themselves of a wicket-taking threat, by following, like sheep, the edict that limited-overs players must be two-dimensional. Danish Kaneria is a good legspinner and they should have made an exception to this dubious rule in his case.
Pakistan will make the final eight but that won't be a great achievement since they have lowly Scotland in their group and they will fall well short of a semi-final berth.
Rating: 6/10
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India
By making themselves unavailable, India's big three, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, have done what the selectors weren't brave enough to do on their own accord - make the Indian side younger.
Hopefully at least India's fruitless search for an allrounder will end with the return to form of Irfan Pathan, and their sloppy fielding will be improved with the injection of youth, because they have little chance of winning this tournament.
The other big plus that India will be looking to get out of this tournament is the international rehabilitation of Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh. Just as a term in the wilderness has revitalised Ganguly's career, a return to former glory by the two talented young players would greatly enhance India's showing in this tournament and also in the future.
In fact, if Sehwag, Irfan and Harbhajan all perform well in this tournament, and Sreesanth is sufficiently chastened by his omission from the 50-overs side to concentrate purely on bowling, then India will be much the better for participating. Piyush Chawla is another young player who is fast improving and looks ready to assume greater international responsibility.
With their dubious top-order batting and their propensity for being generous in the field, India could well disappoint in this tournament. Then again, if all their reclamation projects are successful, they could be the biggest surprise package of the tournament. They are more likely to fall in the former category than in the latter, though, and miss the semi-finals. However, even if two of the reclamation projects fire, it could be regarded as a successful tournament for India.
source: https://content-uk.cricinfo.com/talk/content/multimedia/30947 6.html?view=transcript
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