KEY POINTS:
KARACHI - Six months ago, Pakistan were ranked among the top three favourites to win the 2007 cricket World Cup in the West Indies.
Now they face a host of problems as they prepare for a tournament which the country's fanatic cricket fans consider the mother of all competitions.
Key bowlers are unfit. A communication gap exists between the cricket establishment and captain Inzamam-u-Haq and there are disciplinary issues with some players. Hardly the sort of situation any team would like to face before going into a World Cup.
Yet Pakistan with their unpredictability and capacity for match-winning performances are not out of the race for cricket's grand prize.
"We faced similar problems in '92, our buildup was weak. But we had an inspirational captain in Imran Khan. Inzamam will also have to lead by example," former captain Javed Miandad told Reuters.
Pakistan stunned the world by winning the 1992 title in Australia, coming back from an opening defeat to the West Indies and a score of 72 runs against England in a rained-off game.
Since than another title has eluded them although they came close to it in the 1999 competition in England before they were outclassed by Australia in the final.
Inzamam, the most senior player in the present side with 375 one-day and 119 test appearances, was one of the big failures in the under-performing 2003 World Cup side, mustering just 19 runs in six innings.
Despite their vast reservoir of talent, Pakistan have always suffered from a tendency to choke in the big tournaments and to crumble under pressure.
"Consistency is definitely an issue with Pakistan cricket. I can't put my finger on one particular reason for this. But the sort of talent they have they still will remain a dangerous side," said coach Bob Woolmer.
In the past year, Pakistan have won only 14 out of their last 29 one-day games.
Three of those defeats came in the recent series in South Africa including one at Centurion where South Africa won by 164 runs after piling on 392.
Pakistan's unpredictability was illustrated in the next game in Durban as they bounced back to score 351 and level the series.
A leading concern is the ability of some of the players to cope with the strain of a prolonged tournament.
Pakistan's most experienced bowler, Shoaib Akhtar, has played in just four one-dayers since February 2006 due to fitness problems.
He and fellow fast bowler Mohammad Asif have also been tainted by testing positive for performance-enhancing drug nandrolone although their doping bans were rescinded in December.
Pakistan Cricket Board director of cricket operations Saleem Altaf says there are discipline issues within the team. He said they had been discussed at a recent board meeting with players told to clean up their act.
There is also a perception in the board that in a team, where no player matches his experience, Inzamam is too domineering.
Inzamam also led a team protest at The Oval against England in August when they refused to continue the test after umpires penalised the Pakistanis for alleged ball-tampering.
The International Cricket Council cleared Pakistan of the charges but banned Inzamam for four games for bringing the game into disrepute in an incident which underlined how players in Pakistan cricket tend to be bigger than the sport and the establishment.
However former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif said Inzamam, who turns 37 next month, could still take his team all the way.
"He has the respect of his players," Latif said.
- REUTERS
