T20 World Cup

Led by all-rounder Shahid Afridi, a 15-member Pakistan squad will leave for the West Indies via Dubai and London here on Saturday (today). The mega event will be played in the Caribbean Islands from April 30 to May 16. According to the planned trip, the Pakistan squad will first reach Dubai and from there to St Lucia via London.

Defending champions Pakistan feature a strong line-up that includes the experience of Afridi, Misbahul Haq, Mohammad Asif and Abdul Razzaq along with the burgeoning talents of Umar Akmal, Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Aamer.

Pakistan open their title defence against Bangladesh in St Lucia on May 1 and then take on world champions Australia the following day at the same venue. The final will take place in Kensington Oval, Barbados.

Pakistan suffered a major blow last week when star pacer Umar Gul and all-rounder Yasir Arafat were both officially ruled out of the tournament, having failed to recover sufficiently from injuries picked up in the training camp.

Umar had been their leading wicket-taker in both the 2007 and 2009 editions of the World Twenty20.

His death bowling was a key component of the 2009 success in particular, a record spell of 5-6 against New Zealand, sparking a turnaround in the team’s fortunes. He is currently the world’s leading wicket-taker in the format.

The duo have been replaced by fast bowler Mohammad Sami and left arm spinner Abdul Rehman. Sami, 29, has played 34 Tests and 83 ODIs but has yet to make an appearance in a Twenty20 international while Rehman has represented Pakistan in two Tests, 11 ODIs and two T20 internationals. His last T20 was more than two years ago, against Kenya at Nairobi Gymkhana. Rehman is one of Pakistan’s leading domestic spinners for the last few years now and was particularly successful in the season just gone. No member of the national selection committee is accompanying the team during their trip. Team manager Yawar Saeed, coach Waqar Younis and skipper Afridi will form the tour selection committee to take decisions regarding the team. Earlier, there were reports that one of the selection committee members would be travelling with the team to look after the selection of players on a match-to-match basis during the tournament.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt has urged the media and people of the country to cast aside all controversies and support the national team. “The media focus too much on creating controversies or issues. At times even the minor issues are blown out of proportion,” Ijaz told reporters. “The national team are now going to the West Indies for an important assignment and I think the media and the people need to support them completely,” he added. Ijaz said that he had a lot of faith in Pakistan who were capable of bouncing back from recent problems like the disciplinary actions against some players. Ijaz’s remarks came after controversy over the method of selection to replace injured Umar and Yasir. While the captain and coach in consultation with chief selector Mohsin Hasan Khan announced Sami and rookie pacer Mohammad Irfan as replacements, Ijaz stepped in and approved the selection of Sami and Rehman. Although Ijaz officially stated that Irfan could not be picked since he was not in the provisional 30-member squad, he was upset with coach Waqar for having announced the replacement without his approval.

Pakistan players say when they will land in the Caribbean they will have nothing but cricket on mind. Back in 2007, during the ICC Cricket World Cup, Pakistan were eliminated in the first round after a shock defeat against minnows Ireland and the next day, on March 18, their coach Bob Woolmer was found dead in his hotel room. The Pakistan players were treated as suspects by the Jamaican police and could not leave the place until the police cleared them. Wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal and paceman Sami, who were part of the 2007 World Cup squad, told media they were going for the World T20 with an open and positive mind. “Whatever happened in 2007 is now history,” Kamran said. Sami said he could not forget the events of that World Cup but he was going to the West Indies with renewed passion and wanted to do well and see his team do well in the World T20.

All-rounder Abdul Razzaq said the World T20 was a big challenge for all of them. “I think all of us want to do well in a way to make up for what happened in 2007,” he added. Opener Salman Butt said this World T20 was very important for all of them. “We need to do well because of the recent events in Pakistan cricket.” Salman said the good thing was that captain Afridi and coach Waqar had worked hard to bring harmony in the team and gel the players together. “There is a self belief that if we stick together and put in collective efforts we are capable of winning this World T20,” he maintained.

Afridi said his boys were geared-up to live up to the expectations of the nation and accomplish the task in the West Indies. “Without the prayers of the nation and supporters, Pakistan cannot achieve anything,” he said. He made its clear that he was not under any kind of pressure. “I like to lead the team from the front because its my style and I always believe in an aggressive approach,” said Afridi, who played a key role in Pakistan’s semi-final and final triumph in 2009.

One side that will be bursting to succeed during the tournament will be hosts West Indies, led by the always-exciting Chris Gayle. With the men from the Caribbean based in Guyana for their two matches in the group stage, it will be a particular incentive for the likes of Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Narsingh Deonarine to perform well in front of their adoring home support. India are coming into the event with plenty of Twenty20 practice with most of its players having been taking part in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The 2007 champions will again be led by wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni and is not short on thrilling players in the form Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Yusuf Pathan and others.

The two teams that qualified for the event, Afghanistan and Ireland, will be anxious to show the world they are not there simply to make up the numbers. Afghanistan were playing in Division 5 of the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League less than two years ago and now find themselves up against India and South Africa in Group C, illustrating the sort of opportunities awaiting associate and affiliate teams with talent and ambition.

The event will be broadcast in 15 European languages across the length and breadth of the continent. The Eurosport channel, the official licensee of International Cricket Council’s (ICC) broadcast partner ESPN STAR Sports, will be broadcasting the tournament in Europe from the West Indies. The tournament will be accessible to 58 territories across Europe. In addition, the languages in which the Eurosport plans to broadcast the Twenty20 World Cup are Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, English, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Turkish and Swedish.

Pakistan squad:

Shahid Afridi (captain), Salman Butt, Mohammad Hafeez, Khalid Latif, Misbahul Haq, Fawad Alam, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Abdul Rehman, Hammad Azam, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamer and Saeed Ajmal. Officials: Waqar Younis (coach), Ijaz Ahmed (assistant coach), Yawar Saeed (manager), Shafqat Rana (associate manager).

Source : Daily Times