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(WI Vs Pak, Opening Match Preview by BV Swagath)

The Cricket Carnival kicks off at the Sabina Park at 14:30 GMT today as the hosts West Indies meet Pakistan in the opening game of the mega event. Action is guaranteed as both the sides are highly unpredictable. They either play outstandingly or play miserably. But for now, West Indies will face some pressure as they have to cope up with the huge expectations of their home crowd.

The pitch at the Sabina Park and for that matter any other venue will be a mystery that will get unfolded only when the matches get started. All of them have been relaid for the World Cup. In the recent past, the wickets in the Caribbean have been slow and low with the medium pacers toiling really hard. But this time around, the pitches should be fresh or in other words ‘virgins’. They may not have settled underneath which should result in the ball to deviate sideways. The grounds might be small but the batsmen will have to get used to the track before they go full throttle.

Coming back to the opening encounter, Pakistan is definitely a weakened side as they will be missing the sheer speed of Shoaib Akhtar and the probing new ball spell of Mohammad Asif. This gives sides an opportunity to go after the second string pace attack that consists of Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar and others. All rounder Shahid Afridi will also be missing in today’s game and the next one as he is due to complete the ICC ban for four ODIs. The onus will be on the trio of the prolific Mohammad Yousuf, the reliable Younis Khan and Captain Cool – Inzamam to consistently deliver the goods. Surprisingly, Inzamam has a mediocre record in the World Cup. But there are other batsmen as well like Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Hafeez who can make match winning contributions.

West Indies’ success in the recent times has been due to the whirlwind starts that Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul have provided. Their batting is quite strong on paper with Ramnaresh Sarwan getting back into the fold. Brian Lara’s countdown has begun as this is going to be his last ODI tournament. So he would like to play 11 matches in this World Cup which should see the hosts playing at Barbados on the 28th of April. The bowling for West Indies has improved dramatically since the last one or two years. There is pace in the form of Jerome Taylor and Daren Powell while there is reliability in the form of Ian Bradshaw and Corey Collymore. Dwayne Bravo and Dwayne Smith are versatile medium pacers, capable of doing very well when they are into a rhythm. The spin department will be taken care by the nagging Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels.

The problems for both the sides are their unpredictability and their fielding standards which is not all that good. A batting collapse is always on the cards for both West Indies and Pakistan. West Indies in particular have this habit of almost losing an already won match. With a dreadful warm-up match against India, the pressure is on the West Indian players to erase the memories of that and play at their best in front of their home crowd.

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