Waqar Younis, the Pakistan coach, said the fact people were calling his side favourites put them under pressure, but he was pleased that they put in a commanding performance

After eight years of unconverted cameos and constant role switching, Mohammad Hafeez's talent and cricketing brain are finally leading to vital performances

Pakistan's resolve to not change a winning XI will undergo a stiff test ahead of the quarter-final against West Indies in Dhaka

With the kind of choice he has, each bowling change Shahid Afridi makes has ensured that batsmen are unable to fall into the kind of rhythm they thrive on. On the pitches of the subcontinent, that is often a winning ploy

All Pakistan's bowlers played their role, the fielding was as good as it has been in a long time, and two young batsmen played maturely; yet by the next game, their win against Australia could mean nothing

A year into his job as Pakistan coach, Waqar Younis is still standing. He has applied himself to the task of keeping one of cricket's historically most fractious teams going and has done better than most would give him credit for

The answer most people want is whether or not Shoaib Akhtar will get a chance to play another game in this tournament, and whether he will play against Australia

Over 13 years Shoaib Akhtar played too few Tests, had too many injuries, got into too much trouble but left behind indelible memories

Shoaib Akhtar will retire from the international game at the end of Pakistan's World Cup, bringing to an end one of cricket's most compelling and mercurial careers

Pakistan may have qualified for the knockout stages but their coach Waqar Younis is not prepared to look beyond their final group game against Australia just yet

Zimbabwe's coach Alan Butcher thinks this World Cup had probably come four years too early for this group of players

Umar Gul is the most unassuming bowling spearhead Pakistan have had for years, possibly ever, so much so that it is easy to not think of him as the leader of the attack at all

ESPNcricinfo presents the Plays of the Day from the World Cup, Group A match between Pakistan and Zimbabwe in Pallekele

Shahid Afridi has said Umar Akmal is fit, though noises from the rest of the camp are not as positive about his finger injury

The batting Powerplay seems to have been more advantageous to the bowlers in the World Cup, and though Pakistan's numbers in it read well, they are quite inflexible in deciding when to take it

Pakistan will continue to sweat over the finger injury to Umar Akmal after the batsman, again, missed practice

The unorthodox shot is the sole Hawaiian shirt in a wardrobe of plain or striped office wear that includes pure drives, and correct clips and lofts

A finger injury to Umar Akmal has lessened the chances of him replacing brother Kamran as Pakistan's wicketkeeper in the match against Zimbabwe

For 20 overs of their own innings and the last five of Sri Lanka's, Zimbabwe were on some kind of level footing. But for the business ends of any game, the start and the finish, they were nowhere

Plays of the day from Sri Lanka's one-sided encounter against Zimbabwe in Pallekele