Pakistan's Probable squad for Cricket World Cup 2015

Despite the recent dip in form and Ajmal’s probable absence, Pakistan’s bowling still remains its stronger suit. Death bowling, even with Ajmal in the team, has suffered drastically over the past year. Coach Waqar Younis needs to work with both Wahab and Junaid along with Gul on bowling in the last 15 overs.

The number of times our opponents recovered at the fag-end after Hafeez has kept things tight in the middle of the innings in the last 15 months is alarming. With Pakistan’s mental barrier at chasing anything beyond 240-250, this is all the more important.

Expected: Mohammad Irfan, Junaid Khan, Wahab Riaz, Umar Gul

Mohammad Irfan on Australian pitches is the team’s trump card and needs to be treated like gold dust. During the tournament, he needs to be used as aggressively as possible at the start of the innings, which is where he will be most dangerous. Junaid Khan has the ability to move the ball both ways and trouble quality batsmen just like he troubled Virat Kohli, Virender Sehwag, Mahela Jayawardene, Alastair Cook and Hashim Amla in recent times. The Guldozer, Umar Gul, will be effective with his Yorkers at the death. A tournament suited for the bowlers and providing them with a chance to create their impact on the game, Pakistan would want its trio of Gul, Irfan and Junaid to penetrate deep in opponent’s batting line-ups.

Reserves: Mohammad Talha, Ehsan Adil, Raza Hasan, Imran Khan

Saeed Ajmal was becoming less of a mystery, given the high amount of video analysis and preparation – and the oppositions solely focusing on him. The best players of spin – Kohli, Amla, AB, Sangakkara – had him figured out and were scoring against him much more freely than before. A good spinner like Raza Hassan will have ‘the unknown factor’ advantage, as most of the teams will be facing him for the first time. Mohammad Talha, Ehsan Adil and Imran Khan would have their chances on a spot if Junaid Khan or Umar Gul failed to recover in time for the WC. (also read Leading Wicket takers in WC)

Pakistan’s Possible Squad: 1. Ahmed Shehzad 2. Mohammad Hafeez 3. Nasir Jamshed 4. Misbah-ul-Haq (Captain) 5. Younis Khan 6. Umar Akmal 7. Sohaib Maqsood 8. Shahid Afridi 9. Fawad Alam 10. Sarfraz Ahmed 12. Anwar Ali 12. Junaid Khan 13. Umar Gul 14. Mohammad Irfan 15. Wahab Riaz

Note: This is not an officially announced or guaranteed squad for the world cup but a probability based on the author’s own views and opinions.