Pakistan team’s ‘never say die’ attitude and its boundless pool of talents from where it seems to fish out match winners every year are two out of the many reasons for its formidable reputation in the world. The rest of the reasons descend on the opposing teams along with a hollow experience of defeat.

History
Pakistan is a team where new players evolve from nowhere. Pakistan team experienced its moment of glory in the World Cup when it beat England in the final of World Cup 1992. This was Pakistan’s first triumph in the World Cup and its only one so far. Pakistan team has played a total 53 matches in the World Cup so far, with 29 wins and 22 losses.
Players
Pakistan has many potential match-winners, each one capable of taking the attack to the opponents. Inzamam-ul-Haq, as a young cricketer, had played a big part in Pakistan’s 1992 World Cup triumph. He is one player who has not let age cast its shadow over his prolific scoring. Inzamam-ul-Haq is Pakistan’s captain and its ‘crisis man’. Pakistan’s fortunes in 2007 World Cup will certainly depend on his appetite for runs and how far he succeeds in procuring them. Mohammed Yousuf is another batsman who Pakistan would be banking upon in its World Cup campaign. He is a stylish batsman and can make any attack in the world look ordinary. The fastest bowler in the world, Shoaib Akhtar can make merry under the favorable conditions of the Caribbean- provided of course he gets his line correct and injuries permit.
Performance
Pakistan left for a tour of England in June 2006 following a solid performance in the tour of Sri Lanka, where it claimed victory in both test series and one-day internationals. In England, the controversial test series may have ended in England’s favor, but the Pakistanis were impressive in the ODIs. The ball tampering controversy, which no doubt caused lot of anguish to the Pakistanis, might work in their favor since the incident has pricked their pride and the World Cup 2007 may work as an ideal salve.

Chances in the 2007 World Cup
Pakistan will enter the 2007 World Cup as one of the strongest competitors. It is one team that Australians are quite confessedly wary of. Pakistan’s youngsters are learning the ropes of international cricket quickly and they know that things cannot get bigger than the World Cup. This team should bring surprises in 2007 world cup.

Tournament Venues

All of the 49 matches will be held in 13 different venues across the three countries. Except two new venues in Sri Lanka (Hambantota and Pallekele), the rest of them are test venues including India’s 8 well-known test grounds. Here, I am giving the names of the venues:

India

MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai,

Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad,

Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur,

Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi,

Eden Gardens, Kolkata,

M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore,

Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh,

Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Bangladesh

Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur, Dhaka

Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong

Sri Lanka

Hambantota,

Pallekele,

R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

India will host its first match on 20 February when Kenya and New Zealand will face each other at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk in Chennai. The first game in Sri Lanka will be held on the same day at Hambantota where Sri Lankan team will take on Canada. Pakistan was one of the co-hosts of the tournament initially, but was stripped off the host status on security ground by ICC. Pakistan will play all of their matches in Sri Lanka unless they reach the semi final. If Pakistan can get into the last four of the tournament, they have to travel to India.