Pakistan open campaign with easy outing
Only a dramatic reversal in form can stop Pakistan from winning their
opening Champions Trophy match against an under-strength West Indies
here on Wednesday.
It is the only easy match for Younus Khan's Pakistanis in the
four-team group as West Indies are without their first-choice side
following a contract row between the players and their cricket board.
Bangladesh, who have not even qualified for this tournament, put the
current West Indies team in proper perspective when they clinched both
the Test and one-day series in the Caribbean this year.
Pakistan could not have asked for a better beginning to their bid to
become only the second team after India to win three ICC-conducted
tournaments the World Cup, Twenty20 World Championship and Champions
Trophy. Pakistan, winners of the 1992 World Cup and 2009 Twenty20
Worlds, will have tougher assignments ahead as they clash with
arch-rivals India and defending champions Australia in the next two
matches.
AFP
|