The much anticipated Twenty20 World Cup final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground could turn out to be a battle between the fearsome pace bowling attack of Pakistan and world class batting department of England.
Pakistan have one of the best fast bowling attacks in their armory in the form of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah and Mohammad Wasim.
With Pakistan looking to win their second 20-over title after 2009, captain Babar Azam is relying on his brilliant pace attack to defuse the explosive batting strength of England.
“England are a competitive team, their win to reach the finals against India was a proof of that. Our strategy is to stick to our plan and use our pace attack as our strength to win the finals,” said Babar to the media at the pre-final press conference at the MCG Saturday.
There were a lot of pre-match hype regarding the similarities between Pakistan's 1992 World Cup win and this year's tournament.
Pakistan were on the edge of elimination after a similarly poor start in 1992, but bounced back tremendously, defying all the odds, and later defeated England in a highly competitive final in Melbourne.
History has been repeated in almost identical ways this time around, as Pakistan were on the back foot straightaway after losing their first game against arch-rivals India.
The second game was a shocking loss for Pakistan as they were defeated by Zimbabwe by just one run.
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Two losses in as many games almost left them out of contention for a last four berth.
At that point wins in their three remaining games was not enough for them, they also had to rely on other results.
The window of opportunity suddenly opened when the Netherlands upset South Africa at the Adelaide Oval, and both Pakistan and Bangladesh were in the running for a semi-final spot.
In a virtual quarter-final, Pakistan defeated Bangladesh quite comprehensively and later outplayed high-flying New Zealand to qualify for the finals.
They are now one step away from history and completing a stunning comeback, just like their predecessors back in 1992.
“Of course the similarities are the same. We have our first two matches lost, and that cost us. But the way our team come back last four matches, they perform very well, and we are playing good cricket in the last four matches. Yes, we will try to continue that momentum in the final,” said elegant right-handed batter Babar.
“We will try to win the trophy as it is honor for me to lead this team, especially in this big ground. We will try to give our 100%, and let's see.
“England are a good team, they have a good bunch of players and they have quality fast bowlers and batsmen, so we will try our best to execute our plans, and looking forward to the match,” Babar concluded.
