Pakistan along with Australia have faced each against each other in the knockout stage of the world cup from 1987. Since 1987 it has been the case that the Men in Green have never defeated Australia's Kangaroos at elimination match.
For the Babar-Azam-led current group of Pakistan to take on Australia at the T20 World Cup 2021 semi-final this evening and end another jinx, here five things they must accomplish:
1- win Toss first
Pakistan had two matches during Dubai during their winning streak of five matches, winning equally India in addition to Afghanistan. Both times they were chased by.
After decades of being terrible chasers This Pakistan team is now more at ease batting second rather than first. It's an amazing turnaround that is largely due to the current zeitgeist of cricket and also.
This, along with Dubai's dew factor, makes it the best choice to go for a swim.
Additionally, add the fact that of the four occasions Australia has eliminated Pakistan at World Cup competitions, only one (1987) was the course of a chase. Three occasions, Pakistan have batted first and were unable to defend.
2- Get a lot of play out of the ball that's new
Pakistan have a high-end group however, they are more balanced when compared with Australia and their top two batsmen -David Warner and Aaron Finch Aaron Finch and David Warner -they are their openers, and the latter has a major drop.
Mitchell Marsh is an okay batsman. Glenn Maxwell can be brilliant when he's playing, but he's not played a lot this World Cup and could be slightly rusty.
Steven Smith does not have any role to play and is as a fish in water, in this context.
Marcus Stoinis can be good but isn't the type of player who can turn the game around on the chin all on his own and the same is true for Mathew Wade.
Then there's The long(ish) long tail. Other than the top two players and Maxwell there aren't any terrifying names in this Aussie batsmen's group and there are certainly not any Mike Husseys to be found.
Therefore should Shaheen Afridi and Co can eliminate Finch and Warner early then the most difficult part of the task is completed.
3. Check off Starc and Cummins
Pakistan have defeated five teams during the current World Cup but none of the teams featured express speed bowling options.
The team that is Babar Azam with Mohammad Rizwan has not been subjected to a raging speed of up to 150kmph and 150kmph, speeds that Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins could reach, if required.
Similar to what they did with the Afghans Rashid Khan and Mujeebur Rahman the duo consisting of Babar and Rizwan will be expected to show the Aussie pace duo respect, too. The sum of 60 runs from the eight innings and 120 runs from the remaining 12 is the way that the Pakistan batsmen would need to calculate their numbers.
4. Target Zampa
Adam Zampa has been in excellent form during this World Cup but he averages an extremely low 42.75 scores per game in the match against Pakistan for T20Is.
In reality, in six of the matches against Pakistan Zampa has picked up four wickets. This is not surprising considering that Zampa is regarded as one of the Men in Green, like the majority of Asian sides, are superb spinners. Therefore, he is the man that the Hafeez-led middle order should be looking for.
5. Stick with what you're familiar with, what has worked.
Australia's history against Pakistan could entice the Pakistani side to experiment with new ideas, however the most effective strategy for currently in the present for Babar as well as his thought-tank is to stick with what has proven successful to date.
The desire to alter the lineup, change the batting order , or make any other tweaks to the game plan must be avoided. According to the old adage"Don't fix what's not broken.