Australian captain Michael Clarke refused to take Pakistan lightly despite the fact that their quarter-final rivals lost the services of Mohammad Irfan, their most effective bowler in the tournament.
– #Quiz360: WIN a group paintball session at Zayed Sports City
– #360LIVE: India vs Bangladesh – CWC15 quarter-final
– Australia’s Aaron Finch inspired by Steve Waugh’s talk
The 7ft 1in Pakistani, the tallest cricket player in the world, has a stress fracture of the pelvis and will not take part in any further action in the tournament. However, the Australian captain is well aware that the Pakistan bowling attack, led by Wahab Riaz and Rahat Ali, has still managed to trouble their opponents.
“I think they’ve got a very good pace attack. Good mix of left and right arm, and obviously the experience and skill of Afridi as well. He’s a great strength of Pakistan’s,” said Clarke.
“I think Pakistan have been under-rated for a long time, especially in the shorter form of the game. I think they’ve got a lot of talent. I think they have got a good mix of youth and experience and they are batting really well, and they are led well by Misbah.
“I think tomorrow will be a tough challenge for us, and I believe we have to be at our best to beat them.
“It’s irrelevant who is favorite now. You have to play your best cricket. We’re really focused on this game. We will treat this like a World Cup final for us. It’s a crucial game.
“Obviously, you lose, and you’re sitting and watching the rest of the tournament. So, we’re focused on just making sure we can have success in this game here tomorrow.”
Clarke said the team management hasn’t yet zeroed in on a playing eleven for Friday, and the only thing that looks a certainty at the moment is that the captain himself will not open the innings like he did in their last pool match against Scotland.
“I can guarantee I won’t be opening. Maybe some other day, but not right now. So, yeah, Finchy and Davey will go back to opening, and then we’ll assess,” said Clarke.
“The good news is that all our 15 players are fit, so it is a good problem for the selectors to chose eleven from that.
“As for the batting order, I think it is just based on the situation of the game that we changed the order.
“I think our order is pretty flexible. Apart from the top two that will open the batting and have done so really throughout the whole tournament apart from one game to try to give a few people a hit, the rest is very flexible.
“We’ll work out the situation of the game. I think that’s one of our great strengths that we’ve got a number of guys that have batted in different positions through their career and have enjoyed some success in different positions as well. So it’s a good problem to have.”
With Australia firing on all cylinders, and almost every player in form, Clarke was asked if he had any concerns going into the knockout stage.
“At this stage I don’t have too many concerns. But look, what’s happened beforehand is irrelevant. As long as individuals are confident with their own game and you get that by having success along the way, and by your preparation, then all that matters is tomorrow,” said Clarke.
“Doesn’t matter how well you’ve played beforehand or what your plans are afterwards.
“It’s about tomorrow being a hundred percent focused and as well prepared as you can be and batting as well as you can, bowling as well as you can, and hopefully our fielding continues to be as good as it has been throughout this tournament.”
