There was speculation that the 27-year-old Mohammad Amir, who missed the last four matches of the one-day international series against England earlier this month, might not be able to make his World Cup debut at Trent Bridge.
Mohammad Amir
Pace spearhead Mohammad Amir is fit and available for selection for Pakistan's opening World Cup match against the West Indies on Friday, captain Sarfaraz Ahmed said.
There was speculation that the 27-year-old, who missed the last four matches of the one-day international series against England earlier this month, might not be able to make his World Cup debut at Trent Bridge. "Amir is fully fit and available for selection for tomorrow's game," Sarfaraz said in his pre-match press conference.
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Amir, who missed the 2011 and 2015 World Cups due to a five-year ban for spot-fixing, was seen bowling using his full run-up in the team's practice session. Sarfaraz said he hoped the team could put behind them a streak of 10 straight ODI defeats. "Yes, we have lost 10 matches but we have to forget that and start the World Cup journey," he said.
Asked if he was worried about the short boundaries and a flat pitch at Trent Bridge, Sarfaraz said: "When we came here on the first day and asked the groundsman what is the par score he told us that it's 480." Top-ranked England have scored 400-plus twice at this ground, 444-3 against Pakistan in 2016 and a world record of 481-6 against Australia last year.
"Cricket has changed. People used to think that 300 was a par score but it has changed. We will have different pitches in the World Cup so if a team scores 300-plus then the other team will also go for that," he said. Sarfaraz said both Pakistan and the West Indies were unpredictable teams.
"It's good to be unpredictable so all teams are scared of you. Yes, we are unpredictable and we will take that tag, so are the West Indies," said the skipper.
West Indies, who sneaked through last year's qualifying round to feature in this year's event, piled up 421 against New Zealand in a warm-up match on Tuesday. With their powerful batting including Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Shai Hope and Andre Russell, Pakistan will be hard-pressed to contain them. But Sarfaraz said taking wickets will be the key.
"If you want to contain any team you have to take wickets whoever you play, so it's important to put pressure by taking wickets."
While Pakistan captain Sarfraz has been upbeat about his team's chance against the Caribbeans, West Indies captain Jason Holder sounded a warning for West Indies' World Cup opponents ahead of their opening game against Pakistan on Friday, saying his team are playing with a smile on their faces.
The two-times world champions had to battle to reach the World Cup in England and Wales, reaching the tournament via a qualifying competition in Zimbabwe last year.
Since then they have found form, with batsmen Chris Gayle and Shai Hope particularly impressive, squaring a home series against top-ranked England 2-2 and then reaching the final of a tri-series in Ireland.
Holder was positive on the eve of the game at Trent Bridge, with his team boosted by a 91-run win over a formidable New Zealand side in a warm-up game in which they scored a mammoth 421 runs. "One thing I like coming into this tournament is that every player is in a good frame of mind. Everybody is playing with a smile on their face, and I think that's how we play our best cricket," said Holder, captaining in his second World Cup.
"We're fearless, we enjoy what we're doing and we enjoy one another's company. I can safely say within the group we've got that." Holder said Hope's consistent scoring was a major factor for the West Indies. "Shai has been carrying some form for a long time in the limited-overs format, and he's really confident," said Holder of the 25-year-old batsman, who has hit five hundreds and four half-centuries in his past 16 ODI innings.
"I think he's worked out pretty much his method of scoring in this format. As I say, it's been very, very consistent, which as a group we've probably lacked in the recent past." Holder played down the hype around his batting line-up, tipped to possibly break the 500-run barrier for the first time.
"Look, I don't want to sit here and try to pre-determine what's going to happen, but I just think in this situation we play a normal cricket game," said Holder, whose team were involved in a world-record 46 sixes in a match against England in Grenada.
Holder said his team would not take anyone for granted even though they are facing a Pakistan team who have lost their past 10 completed ODIs. "We just want to be as professional as we possibly can, not take anything for granted. I don't think we're in a position to take anything for granted,"
With inputs from AFP
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