‘All teams are scared of unpredictable Pakistan’ – Sarfaraz Ahmed before Windies bundle his team for 105

It is often said that Pakistan is the most unpredictable cricketing side in the world. They can lose games but can also win them even when chips are down. The title victory in the 1992 edition in Australia and New Zealand went a long way in cementing the Men in Green’s tag for Imran Khan’s boys came back from nowhere to win the cup. The current World Cup squad led by Sarfaraz Ahmed has also been granted the tag despite their 11-match losing streak of late, including the warm-up game against Afghanistan.

Sarfaraz, also the side’s wicket-keeper, took the ‘unpredictable’ tag as a compliment ahead of the tournament and said that his team is a dangerous opponent to all other sides in the tournament. “I think its good to be unpredictable. All teams are scared because of Pakistan. The Pakistan team is very dangerous,” Sarfraz was quoted as saying by Times Now.

Pakistan collapsed like a pack of cards

However, Pakistan failed to inspire their fans in their first match of the edition against the Windies at Trent Bridge on Friday. Winning the toss, Caribbean skipper Jason Holder sent Pakistan to bat first and Sarfaraz’s side folded in front of the Caribbean quicks for a meagre 105 and didn’t even last 22 overs.

They were reeling at 83 for 9 before the last pair of Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Amir helped them go past the three-figure mark. There was unlikely to be a result to reiterate Pakistan’s unpredictable tag as the Windies won the game by seven wickets to take two valuable points.

Another reason why Sarfaraz’s side was given the ‘unpredictable’ tag is their team winning the Champions Trophy in England in 2017 beating arch-rivals India in the final. However, their 0-5 and 0-4 losses to Australia and England of late haven’t helped Pakistan’s image in the cricketing fraternity and the hasty decisions of dropping a few players to pave way for the out-of-form Amir and Riaz, who last played in an ODI almost two years ago, also raised quite a few eyebrows.

Pakistan next play hosts England, who thrashed South Africa in the first match of this World Cup at the Oval by 104 runs, at Trent Bridge on June 3.