The employers of Wasim Akram and indeed every member of the Pakistan team, are the people of Pakistan, and the World Cup is the single biggest project on hand, success is a must. In order for Pakistan to ensure at least a semi-final appearance, two things have to happen. Beating Australia at Headingly will be a tough task. Pakistani's usually have a tough time playing at Headingly and against an attack like Australia's which will rely more on the seam and swing of Fleming, Dale and Reiffel rather than the pace of Mcgrath, they will find the going even harder. This means that their first match of the tournament against the West Indies takes on enormous proportions, it is almost like a quarterfinal.
Lets hope they play it as such.
Most respected cricket writers have been talking about how the conditions in England will require each team to tailor its playing XI to the individual ground conditions and the opponent. Unlike the last World Cup in the sub-continent where batsmen friendly pitches were pretty uniform and the same XI could be played over and over again. West Indies' strength lies in its bowling. Its batting, like Pakjstan's is talented but inconsistent. Akhtar, Akram, Mehmood and Saqlain should prove a handful for the West Indian batsmen.