Question mark remains over Afridi8217;s ability

In other words, Pakistan will have to bat well to win the World Cup. The three big guns, Saeed Anwar, Ijaz and Inzamam-ul-Haq, will have to fire together. Also, though the bowling is strong enough to defend a modest score, certain adjustments will have to be made to render the bowlers even more effective under English conditions.

Speedster Shoaib Akhtar will have to pitch the ball a little further up to the batsmen in order to gain mileage from slow, soggy surfaces. The bowlers will also have to come to grips with the white ball, which swings a lot more than the red one, and thus may bedifficult to control. The extra coating of white lacquer to keep it from losing its colour and the hand-sewn seam, which remains hard and tight throughout, makes it wobble like a boomerang.

Winning the first few games will be crucial and Pakistan will have to get into that winning groove as quickly as possible if they fancy their chances in England.