Whatmore predicts tough game against Pakistan

BRISBANE: Till January last year, Dav Whatmore was at the helm of the Pakistan team as its head coach.
On Sunday here at the Gabba, he will be commanding a different battalion hoping that it will overcome his former charges.
But that’s the way things are in modern sport. Coaches change sides all the time.
As Zimbabwe coach, Whatmore is now pondering ways and means to win Sunday’s game in a bid to keep his team’s quarter-final hopes alive.
On a day when Pakistan’s players and officials once again shied away from the media before and after their training session, Whatmore was gracious enough to agree to a request for a brief chit-chat with the scribes here on Friday.
But he wasn’t happy with the first question fired at him seeking the coach’s comments on the dismal performance of Team Pakistan in the World Cup.
“I have a policy never to speak about opposition teams,” he retorted and it seemed that his interaction with the media will end prematurely.
However, the next question was about Zimbabwe and Whatmore was a lot more responsive.
“We have played three matches, one more than Pakistan. We have been competitive to a point but we need to improve in a couple of areas.
“We need to be more competitive with the express purpose of winning more matches,” he said about Zimbabwe who have won one of their three World Cup games so far and are sitting at the fifth place in Pool B behind India, South Africa, West Indies and Ireland but ahead of UAE and Pakistan.
Pakistan are facing an early exit from the World Cup after losing both their matches – against India and West Indies — by big margins.
They have looked very fragile in the tournament so far but Whatmore believes that Pakistan’s desperate situation makes them more dangerous.
“They (Pakistan) will be really keen to get some points on the board so it is going to be a tough match,” he stressed.
In their three World Cup games, Zimbabwe’s batting has shown encouraging sign but their bowlers have leaked too many runs. But Whatmore doesn’t see it as a problem that is only plaguing Zimbabwe.
“We have leaked runs at the end like a number of other teams so that problem isn’t an exclusive problem for Zimbabwe. We feel we have pushed the opposition.”
Such is the team placing in Pool B that Whatmore is fancying his team’s chances of making the cut for the last eight provided Zimbabwe beat Pakistan.
“The match is very important as we have only three games left while Pakistan have four more to go,” he said.
Whatmore, 60, refused to comment on the weaknesses of the Pakistan team and said that he would rather look at their strengths.
“I know the strengths of the Pakistan team. My glass is always half full rather than half empty.”
The Colombo-born Whatmore, who played seven Tests for Australia, doesn’t believe the toss will have a major impact on the outcome of Sunday’s match.
“Recent history suggests that teams batting have won the same amount of matches as teams batting second.”
Asked whether Zimbabwe were planning some surprise for Pakistan, he said: “We are treating this preparation like any other. We play different teams on different grounds. There are a number of things we have to do to win a game and that won’t change.”
Whatmore said he was happy with the conditions his team has encountered in New Zealand and Australia so far.
“I think by and large the conditions we have faced in NZ and Australia has been pretty good. We just need to fix up a couple of areas.”