Sarfraz Ahmed: "This Pakistan team is very dangerous"

Pakistan enter this World Cup on the back of ten straight ODI defeats, having also been beaten by Afghanistan in a warm-up game

Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed has warned his team’s World Cup rivals that his “unpredictable” side makes them a threatening opposition.

Pakistan have failed to a win a one-day international since late January and begin their tournament at a ground that holds fearful memories for his charges. They conceded 444 for three against England at Trent Bridge in 2016 – a then-world record – and lost to Eoin Morgan’s side earlier this month at the same venue after posting a first-innings score of 340.

That defeat – in the midst of a four-nil series humbling – means that Pakistan enter this competition on the back of ten straight ODI defeats, having also been beaten by Afghanistan in a World Cup warm-up game.

Despite this relative disarray, Sarfraz is confident that other nations remain aware of his team’s capabilities.

“I think it's good to be unpredictable,” he said on Thursday. “All teams are scared because of Pakistan. At the end of the day, [the] Pakistan team is very dangerous. So it's good to be for the World Cup very unpredictable, so it will affect the whole outcome.”

^{Sarfraz captained Pakistan to glory in the 2017 Champions Trophy.}

While their last 50-over victory came at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on 27 January, when Pakistan beat South Africa by eight wickets, the batting of Babar Azam and Imam-Ul-Haq has been in fine working order.

Although they failed to win any of the four completed games against England, Pakistan’s lowest score of the series was 297.

They face the West Indies in Nottingham tomorrow; whose own batting has been sparkling in their own warm-up games. Jason Holder’s outfit scored 421 in their final preparation game against New Zealand at Bristol on Tuesday, with Chris Gayle and Andre Russell both involved.

For Sarfraz, the key to stopping a potentially explosive line-up is taking wickets, making the return to fitness of leg-spinner Shadab Khan all the more important.

“If you contain any teams, you have to take wickets,” he stressed. “If you're not taking wickets here, you've got to stop runs.

“Whether you play England, you play West Indies or Australia, you have to take [wickets] if you stop any team.”

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