Pakistan sounding serious

POTCHEFSTROOM, South Africa, Feb 1 AAP - Unpredictable Pakistan is sounding ominously serious about the cricket World Cup.

Big batsman Inzamam-ul-Haq has shed almost 10kg and the side, according to him, is oozing confidence, discipline and determination.

Australia is wary about its opening game at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on February 11 because the Pakistanis are impossible to pick.

They can beat anybody when their hearts and minds are on the job. It's cause for concern.

Inzamam is a classic example. Blessed with all the talent in the world, sometimes he's just not with it.

He can be ludicrously slow running between wickets and in the field but then, in the blink of an eye, he can start thumping boundaries.

He's the biggest enigma in a team full of them, always criticised for being overweight - until now.

"I want to look the same as I looked during the 1992 World Cup - a shy and thin boy," Inzamam said in a press release from the Pakistan Cricket Board.

"It has taken a lot of sacrifice but then if I had to be in the best of shapes, I had to do it.

"After all, this World Cup means a lot not only to me but to 140 million people back home who expect me to perform."

Inzamam, so laid-back he once claimed to have a low profile in his own house, is a mountain of a man even at his slimmest.

Normally he cannot be bothered doing fitness work, but he's gone from 103.5kg in August to 94kg after six months in the gym.

"I am sure I will not be criticised for my weight this time," he said.

Inzamam has racked up 8,939 runs from 284 games for Pakistan at 39.2 since bursting onto the international scene as a 22-year-old with 60 off 37 balls against New Zealand in the 1992 World Cup semifinal.

He played another swashbuckling knock in the final, which Pakistan won over England.

He will be a key wicket for Australia.

"I feel fresh and more athletic after having lost the weight," he said.

"I can feel there is a huge difference between the Inzamam of today and Inzamam of maybe six months ago.

"I have had long nets and fielding sessions and I don't feel tired at all.

"Now I am sure that I will be able to spend more time at the crease. At the same time, I can be quicker between the wickets and therefore, little chance of being run-out."

Most run-outs in cricket are tragic.

Some of Inzamam's have been comical, when he's simply refused to run then decided at the last minute to start lumbering. Or just stayed put.

When you can find the boundaries like he can, singles aren't always a priority.

"We have an excellent team but we have to post winning runs," he said.

"I consider I have a big role to play and need to lead by example.

"I have to carry the younger boys under my wings and they will only succeed if I am there in the centre to guide them, exactly the way Javed Miandad did in the 1992 World Cup.

"I know people who have written us off would not trust me, but the truth is that there is a massive turn-around in the attitude of the players.

"I don't know whether it is because of the World Cup or if they have realised that the nation has high hopes on them or maybe because they feel it is time for them to pay back the Pakistan Cricket Board that has gone all the way to support them.

"Whatever the case, this team looks geared up more than one hundred percent."

Captain Waqar Younis added: "There is a positive frame of mind in the camp.

"The World Cup brings that automatically. If we put our heads together, and play to our full potential, I think we have got every chance of lifting the trophy."

Both versions of Pakistan played Australia at the last World Cup.

The good version won a pool game by ten runs, then the bad version lost the final by eight wickets.