India v http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 semifinal: SWOT analysis of Pakistani bowlers - ICC World Cup 2011
The quarterfinals have ended and from Tuesday, the cricketing world would see the top four teams locking horns in the semi-finals' starting with New Zealand taking on http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. However, all eyes are set at the second
semi-final between Pakistan and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 in Mohali on Wednesday. Everybody is just too excited for this magnificent encounter and don’t want to miss a single glimpse of what has been dubbed as the ‘Mother of All Matches’.
There would be some excessive pressure on both the teams and they cannot afford to be complacent in their approach in this stage of the competition. Pakistan is one team which has played well in the ICC World Cup 2011 and have lost only one match against
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 in the tournament. Pakistan has got some good bowlers in their lineup and these bowlers have the “fire power” to give a hard time to the Indian batsmen.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 would most definitely be the main strength of the Pakistani bowling lineup who has taken 21 wickets, the highest, in the tournament. Afridi is expected to play a major role in Pakistan’s victory and would have to spearhead the Pakistani attack
in the match. Afridi knows the ideal line to bowl during the middle overs and introduces himself in the early segments of a match.
His line would not be easy for the Indian batsmen to play and he could easily put them in a defensive frame of mind with his bowling variety. The semi-final is not a small stage and irrespective of Afridi’s bowling credentials, the Indian batsmen would try
to take their chances against him. This is where Afridi could prove too lethal and he could easily take some crucial Indian wickets in his spell.
He has the ability to maintain a decent line on the off side and could temp batsmen like Yuvraj Singh and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Virat-Kohli-c95424 to play some risky cut shots in his innings. His flight could also force the Indian batsmen to make mistakes and could frustrate them to
play some mistimed shots in their innings.
Umar Gul is another bowler of substance within the Pakistani team and has the tendency to bowl some accurate overs in the first half of the Indian innings. Gul has been dead accurate in the mega event and this tendency would prove quite handy for the Pakistani
team. During the semi-final, Pakistan would need those bowlers who have the tendency of bowling accurately rather “adventurously”.
The lanky pacer has a consistent line on middle and off stump side and could easily force http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Virender-Sehwag-c95429 to play some uppish shots in the cover region. He has also been bowling some impressive fuller deliveries in the tournament and could temp Sachin Tendulkar
to go for some flashy drives off his bowling. Gul is an exceptional bowler at the death overs and could easily bowl some genuine Yorkers to stop the runs flow during the Powerplays.
Though, none of the Pakistani middle over bowlers have bowled badly in the ongoing World Cup and have managed to give some reasonable performances in different stages of the competition. But they would be playing in the semifinal and could prove a bit ineffective
effective against the Indian middle order.
Bowlers like Mohammad Hafeez and Abdur Razzaq have the tendency of bowling some short of length overs in their spells and they could be penalized by batsmen like Yuvraj and Suresh Raina. Both these batsmen have a tendency of hitting major boundaries all
round the wicket and could score massive runs off these bowlers during their innings.
The expectations would be of mammoth nature from the Indian players and this would give an ideal “opportunity” to the Pakistani bowlers to bowl with a tactful approach to the Indian batsmen. Pakistani bowlers need to do all the basics right in their bowling
and if they are successful in drying the run rate for sometime; they could frustrate the Indian batsmen to play some awkward shots in their innings.
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