Here's how Pakistan can still keep World Cup 2023 dream alive
October 27, 2023
CHENNAI: With four consecutive defeats in the World Cup, Pakistan’s campaign in the tournament is hanging on the results of other teams — mainly on matches involving Australia, and in those, Babar Azam's men would want Afghanistan or Bangladesh to upset Australians in their games.
Pakistan have played six games and won only two of them and have four points on the table. They’re now scheduled to play Bangladesh, New Zealand, and England in matches to come.
They not only need to win these three remaining matches, but to do it convincingly and then also hope for the results of other games to come in their favour.
The clearest path for Pakistan from here would be to see Australia losing three of their four games, which seems unlikely as two of the games are against weaker opponents like Afghanistan and Bangladesh. So, they would want more upsets in the tournament.
They would also want New Zealand to win three remaining matches by winning one against them.
If Australia avoid an upset against Bangladesh or Afghanistan but lose to New Zealand, then NRR could come into effect.
For Pakistan to qualify, the following results can be helpful:
Match 27: New Zealand beat Australia
Match 28: Bangladesh beat Netherlands
Match 29: India beat England
Match 30: Sri Lanka beat Afghanistan
Match 31: Pakistan beat Bangladesh
Match 32: New Zealand beat South Africa
Match 33: India beat Sri Lanka
Match 34: Afghanistan beat Netherlands
Match 35: Pakistan beat New Zealand
Match 36: England beat Australia
Match 37: India beat South Africa
Match 38: Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh
Match 39: Australia beat Afghanistan
Match 40: England beat Netherlands
Match 41: New Zealand beat Sri Lanka
Match 42: South Africa beat Afghanistan
Match 43: Bangladesh beat Australia
Match 44: Pakistan beat England
Match 45: India beat Netherlands
If all the results go according to the above-stated “wish”, then India will finish with 18, New Zealand 14, South Africa with 12, and Pakistan 10 points, while Australia and Sri Lanka will have 8 points each.
If Australia win against Bangladesh in match 43, which is highly likely, then Pakistan and Australia will tie on 10 points each.
The if and but scenario will be clearer for Pakistan by next mid-week and the scenarios and wishes for Pakistan will keep changing according to results in coming games.
