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The Pakistan cricket team are the living, breathing definition of the word “unpredictable”, and former England captain Nasser Hussain had perhaps summed them up in the best possible way in one crisp line: “One minute down, the next minute up”.

Hussain said the famous line during the 2017 Champions Trophy final in which Pakistan completed a miraculous turnaround to win their first ICC event in eight years. It is precisely this line that explains why it is virtually impossible to put a tag, favourites or otherwise, on the Men in Green ahead of major events.

And it’s no different in the build-up to the 13th edition of the ICC World Cup that begins in less than a week, where Pakistan open their account against Netherlands on 6 October in Hyderabad.

Watch: Pakistan arrive in India for ICC World Cup amid tight security

This, after all, is a team that goes on to win tournaments such as the 1992 World Cup and the 2017 Champions Trophy from the brink of elimination, fighting like “Cornered Tigers” in the darkest of situations and inspiring some of the greatest turnarounds known to sport.

They are also the kind of side that gets eliminated in the first round of the World Cup despite boasting of a side that has the likes of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Saeed Anwar, Inzamam-ul-Haq among others in their ranks, as had been the case in 2003. Or get routed when they were heavily favoured to win, a classic case of which was the 1996 quarter-final against India and even the 1999 final against Australia.

World Cup factbox: Pakistan cricket team

Whether they win or lose, the Pakistan cricket team guarantees entertainment every time it throws its hat into the ring, and takes their supporters through a roller-coaster ride of emotions from tournament to tournament. That might very well be the case in the 2023 World Cup too, whether the Babar Azam-led side finishes in the top four or not.

ICC ODI ranking: 2

World Cup best performance: Champions (1992)

Strengths

What has been key to Pakistan’s success in the sport over the years has been their bowling department, specifically the pace unit. And though they are set to miss out on the services of Naseem Shah, Pakistan retain a formidable attack that certainly has what it takes to decimate the best of batting orders in the world, including the Rohit Sharma-led India.

Shah has been ruled out after picking up an untimely injury during the Super Four clash against India in the Asia Cup. Skipper Babar, though, still has the likes of Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf at his disposal and will be banking on the pair to prise out the key wickets for him more often than not.

They also have a world-class spin option on Shadab Khan to complete the attack. Shadab wasn’t exactly in his element during the Asia Cup, but is quite the match winner nonetheless with his leg-spin and can also be relied upon with the bat.

Pakistan’s middle-order also packs quite the punch, with the likes of Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed involved in quite a few match-saving partnerships in recent memory. Iftikhar, especially, has made a name for himself as a slam-bang option at No 6 with the ability to shift gears at will and change the complexion of the game in a matter of overs. Shadab’s presence additionally, helps extend Pakistan’s batting order.

Weaknesses

Despite a formidable top three in Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq besides skipper Babar himself, and a rock-solid middle-order, Pakistan has been prone to collapsing like a house of cards when put under pressure.

That further heightens during a pressure chase, the most recent example of which was the Super Four clash against India in Colombo in which they were bundled out for 128 after being set a mammoth 357 to win.

Chasing hasn’t been Pakistan’s strongest suit over the years and could come back to haunt them this time around as well.

There’s also the issue of a second spinner in the attack. Spin is expected to play a big role in the tournament and the pace department alone cannot win them every single game. The role of Mohammad Nawaz as the second spinner thus will come under a lot of scrutiny.

Key player

Babar Azam

Pakistan’s bowling department is expected to play a major role in their campaign and how they function as a unit will have a major say in how far they end up in the tournament.

What could ultimately make the difference for the Men in Green, though, could be how some of their key batters perform on the day, especially in do-or-die contests. It is in this regard that skipper Babar might just be performing the most crucial role of leading from the front.

Babar already is a modern-day great even if he still has plenty of years ahead of him, and might end up getting crowned as Pakistan’s greatest batter if he continues the way he is at the moment.

Adding to the challenge is the fact that ‘Bobby’ is even more lethal in subcontinental conditions, and with the wickets in India not too dissimilar from the ones he is used to back home or in the UAE or Sri Lanka.

While the Pakistan captain hasn’t been in the best of form lately, experiencing a dip after scoring a match-winning 151 against Nepal in the Asia Cup, he might just be saving his absolute best for the biggest event of them all.

Let’s also not forget the fact that he knows a thing or two about bossing the Indian attack.

Matches played/won/lost since 2019 World Cup

Played: 36; Won: 24; Lost: 10; Tied: 1; NR: 1

Form guide (Last 10 matches, most recent first): L, L, W, NR, W, W, W, W, L, W

Record in India since 2019 World Cup: Pakistan have not played a match on Indian soil since the 2016 T20 World Cup clash at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens. That game, incidentally, has been their only match since the three-match bilateral ODI series between the two sides that took place in the 2012-13 season.

Major changes in the squad since 2019 WC:

The most noticeable change in the Pakistani line-up since the 2019 World Cup is at the very top, with Sarfaraz Ahmed having slowly been phased out of leadership across formats after the mega event in England, with Babar taking over the reins of the side across formats ever since.

Sarfaraz has made sporadic appearances for the Pakistan team in recent years, the most recent of which was in the two-Test series in Sri Lanka in July. Rizwan has since taken over the wicketkeeping gloves from him and not only is the team’s first-choice wicketkeeper-batter across formats at present, but also an important part of the leadership group as Babar’s deputy.

Additionally veterans such as Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik are no longer part of the team. Malik retired from ODIs right after the 2019 World Cup, but has insisted he’s still available for selection in T20Is, however unlikely the possibility. Hafeez, on the other hand, retired from all formats in January last year, and has since taken up a career in punditry besides a brief stint as part of PCB’s Technical Committee.

There have been a couple of retirements in the bowling department as well, with Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Amir bidding adieu to the sport not long after losing their places in the side. Amir had cited “mental torture” from the PCB management while making the abrupt announcement in December 2020, and is unlikely to be part of the attack anytime soon even if he reverses his decision.

Riaz made his retirement official this August even though he had not played international cricket for a while and had already taken up a career in commentary.

World Cup squad: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan (vc), Fakhar Zaman, Imam ul Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Agha Salman, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Hassan Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jr.

Schedule

6 October: vs Netherlands in Hyderabad

10 October: vs Sri Lanka in Hyderabad

14 October: vs India in Ahmedabad

20 October: vs Australia in Bengaluru

23 October: vs Afghanistan in Chennai

27 October: vs South Africa in Chennai

31 October: vs Bangladesh in Kolkata

4 November: vs New Zealand in Bengaluru

11 November: vs England in Kolkata

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