Pakistan's initial showing not good omen

Pakistan's first two matches in the World Cup have emphatically underlined the team's shortcomings, not that it came as a revelation.

They brought home the batting's brittleness more tellingly, exposed the limitations of leadership more harshly and marked ineptness of fielding more prominently.

The two matches against front-runners Australia and lowly placed Namibia made it clear that Pakistan's World Cup campaign may come to an early, pre-Super Six end, if radical changes are not made.

If the team crosses the first hurdle, it is certain to stumble by the wayside on the next turn-ignominiously in all likelihood. Nothing is to be done in the areas of captaincy and fielding overnight.

Waqar Younis cannot be taught field placing or imaginative harnessing of bowlers; intelligence and acumen are not subject to instant upgradation.

Coach Richard Pybus has done the deed in fielding and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) can now think of how best to use the expensive sword.

Tour selectors would carry out the task of selecting playing eleven and finalizing batting order in their sterile way; they have already demonstrated a pathetic lack of capacity for grasping a challenge and rising to it. However, even chief selector Wasim Bari, the man who has played a pivotal role in messing up the team, feels that changes in batting order are indicated. But a routine shuffling of the pack would hardly produce positive results.

A conventional approach would yield no mileage. Firstly, faults need to be objectively inventoried. The openers have failed. No specialist batsman for one drop is among the World Cup squad.

Middle-order suffers from loss of concentration around a score of 20-30 odd runs. Worst of all, star batsman Inzamam-ul-Haq is woefully groping.

Juggling with the batting order is not the way out. A radical strategy needs to be devised.

Going by Saeed Anwar's scratchy, hit and miss innings against Namibia, authentic fireworks associated with him in the past are not expected of the stylish left-hander.

Exchanging him for Salim Elahi may be useful in so far as he would quickly return to the pavilion instead of wasting time and deliveries in the middle.

It would also mean replacing a good fielder with a weak one.

The selectors should have tested Anwar on the South African safari. His late recall without properly ascertaining form and fitness for a gruelling one hundred over run was an act of astounding naivety.

Saeed Anwar against Namibia was baggage - he could be cabbage against a professional side.

The team has thus to wade through the tournament with 14 members. Eleven of them are self-selected for the playing eleven in crucial ties.

The main worry is Inzamam. He comes two down at a paltry score accumulated at snail-paced rate and quickly pushes the team down a deeper hole. A batsman of his class cannot be sidelined, most certainly not when Taufiq Umar is the sole replacement option.

The suggestion for sending Inzamam at No 3 is going through the motions of change. Considering that the opening stand is qualified to last the first three to four overs on its lucky day, he would be virtually opening the innings most of the time. Why not cast him as opener? If Sachin Tendulkar can face the new ball, there is no reason to think that Inzamam cannot.

He will have to be told that he has to lead the batting. Nothing would be lost if he gets out early but he possesses the talent to take any bowling apart; he should be instructed to attempt just that.

Inzamam getting out to a low score at No 4 expedites the team's trip down the slope; failure as opener would prepare the remaining players for a fight without loss of time.

His partner is to be selected from among Saleem Elahi, Taufiq Umar and Shahid Afridi, besides Saeed Anwar. One way or the other, they have all failed. Saleem Elahi and Taufiq Umar have struggled to consolidate their place in the playing eleven. But they have been either losing their wickets early or regardlessly prolonging their stay in the middle; they cannot be seriously considered productive players for the abridged version of the sport, not at this point in time at least.

Afridi has been a bigger failure, if anything. But the travelling circus of coach and experts has contributed to his miserable run by advising him to settle down first and do the hitting later; it has to be the other way round for Afridi.

He is a slogger and there are no grounds for expecting his transformation in to textbook batsman. He should be sent in, with instructions to go for broke. Despite mishandling by the captain against Australia, he remains a handy bowler. Inzamam should adopt the same approach.

The pair would be bonanza if it clicks; there would be time for repair work for the later batsmen if it comes apart.

Ours is a team without a specialist one-down batsman, thanks to the premature axing of Ijaz Ahmed and ignoring Mohammad Wasim. Experimenting with Abdul Razzaq in that slot proved generally positive in the last World Cup. He can be placed in the same position, current form notwithstanding.

Yousuf Youhana and Younis Khan can bat at two and three down. There is no need to pack the team with more batsmen in the hope that they would score runs. If Inzamam, Youhana, and Younis cannot deliver and help Pakistan reach a good total or chase a high one, others are much less eligible for hitting either target.

Pakistan's strength is their bowling. That department should be further augmented. With Afridi and Razzaq already in the side, there would be room for another six players.

Rashid Latif and Wasim Akram are waging a committed fight; Wasim is determined to produce a memorable swan song. They should fill the next two positions.

Azhar Mahmood should be inducted as additional all-rounder. The last three positions can go to Saqlain, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar. This would widen the team's bowling resources and give the captain a chance to replace bowlers who are not at their best on a particular day.

A bold and aggressive approach is the only option for Pakistan to retain its chances and self-respect in the tournament. The team has to take the World Cup by the scruff of its neck. Or, turn quickly, tamely and shamefacedly towards the exit door.