Pakistan's Probable squad for Cricket World Cup 2015

All-Rounders

In One Day International cricket, all-rounders are generally required to change their game depending on the conditions. If their team loses wickets early, they must be able to play a long careful innings. Conversely, if they are not required to bat until later in the game, they must be able to attempt to score quickly, often attempting to hit many fours or sixes, and if they only have a short period to bat, they are expected to be innovative and able to settle after a short period. In run-chases they are required to be good at calculating and minimizing the risks needed to reach the target, by scoring at close to the rate required. If they score more quickly than is required, they run the risk of getting out and exposing the weaker, lower-order batsmen to the pressure situation, but if they score too slowly, then they fall behind schedule and the pressure again increases.

Expected: Shahid Afridi, Anwar Ali, Bilawal Bhatti

Every Pakistani playing XI is incomplete without Shahid Afridi and he will be more suited to fill in the all-rounder’s boots in Australia and New Zealand. His leg-spins and the ability to hit any ball out of the park will be the most wanted aspect for Pakistan if they want to do a longer journey this time. Afridi was the leading wicket-taker in the previous edition of the WC with India’s Zaheer Khan (21 wickets), however, Zaheer played more matches than Afridi

This World Cup is going to be won by strong fast-bowling all-rounders. It is the main reason New Zealand (Anderson, Neesham), South Africa (McLaren), Sri Lanka (Mathews, Pererra) and Australia (Watson, Johnson, Faulkner) are extremely strong contenders to go the whole hog. Pakistan will look for Anwar Ali or Bilawal Bhatti to take their place and perform both with the bat and the ball but recently, they both have lacked in keeping both aspects of their game up to standards.

Reserves: Hammad Azam

Hammad Azam showed a lot of interest and passion when he first entered into the national side from Under-19 circuit but was soon dropped and forgotten without an ample reason. However, Pakistan has a tendency to recall its lost players for major trophies and he could end up in the 15-man squad on the given day.