By Saj Sadiq
February 3 2003

The Pakistani team has enjoyed a smooth build up to the World Cup, without any of the none cricketing problems encountered by some of their rivals. The build up continues tomorrow with the second of three warm up matches. The match tomorrow is against Gauteng. Only 6 days to go to the start of WC03 and things are starting to hot up for our boys.

Yesterday Pakistan without Wasim, Waqar, Shoaib and Saleem beat a Gauteng XI, by 17 runs, with Younis Khan scoring an excellent 94. It was also good to see Saeed Anwar and Azhar Mahmood back in the fold after their respective absences. The news coming out of South Africa is that Saeed, Azhar and Razzaq will be playing in all 3 warm up matches, to boost their match fitness and also give them time in the middle.

The training sessions seem to be becoming more intense and lengthy and it was good to hear that some of the boys had opted for extra training.

Tomorrow the Pakistan team plays Gauteng in the second of three warm up matches and one would expect the guys who missed the first match to feature in this encounter. Taufeeq Umar is being given the responsibility of wicket keeping which is good thinking, as one never knows what problems or scenarios lie ahead.

Whilst other teams have been worrying over contract disputes, the Zimbabwe situation and forfeiting matches in Kenya, the Pakistani team have been quietly getting on with their preparation.

The signals coming out of the camp are good and the team seem to be focused and in a confident and upbeat mood. As yet there have been no controversies surrounding the team and one gets the impression that the South African media seem to be taking to the Pakistani team.

Preparation for a big tournament like the World Cup is crucial and can be the difference in a team winning or losing the tournament. If the preparation is too lethargic and not high quality and a team loses their build up matches, it can get into the habit of losing. Although the South Africans are trying to play down their defeat to Western Province, it will have been a wake up call to the host nation.

At a time like this, guys like Richard Pybus and Dennis Waite are really earning their money. On the field of play the coach can’t score the runs or bowl the opposition out, but his job is to have his team mentally and physically in top shape, so that when the tournament really starts, his team are in peak condition in mind and body.