DHAKA: Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar believes one of the prime reasons behind Pakistan’s stunningly good showing in the World Cup is that they are playing away from home.
The fact that they entered into the tournament just weeks after three of their leading players — Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt — were banned for spot-fixing makes their smooth accent to the semifinals quite commendable.
Gavaskar said that Pakistan have managed to do well because they are away from all the negativity. “What seems to have worked in Pakistan’s favour is that they are not playing at home and so are away from all the negativity that accompanies their cricket there,” Gavaskar wrote in his column on Wednesday.
Dilip Vengsarkar, another former Test batsman from India, is of the view that Pakistan are peaking at the right time. Vengsarkar drew comparison between Shahid Afridi’s Pakistan and the Indian team that won the World Cup in 1983 in England.
“The most important thing at this stage of the World Cup is to peak as a team and get the momentum going,” Vengsarkar wrote in his column. “That’s what happened in 1983 when India beat the likes of Australia, England and the West Indies. As a team we just peaked at the right time in the tournament.
