Pakistan will defend their title in the third edition of the World Twenty20, which starts in the West Indies on Friday. India won the first edition held in South Africa in 2007.

Wasim said both India and Pakistan are eager to win.

“Pakistan have been starved of cricket, so they have the thirst to win the title again,” Wasim said before leaving for New Delhi where he is booked as an expert television commentator the World Twenty20.

Wasim said Pakistan have a leader in Shahid Afridi.

“You need someone like Afridi as captain in Twenty20 cricket. He has aggression needed in a leader and in a short Twenty20 match he will always sparkle,” said Wasim, a member of Pakistan’s 1992 World Cup winning team.

He said Pakistan can rise to the occasion despite being short on international cricket.

“Pakistan has played very limited international cricket and their players were not in the Indian league, then they have off-field problems resulting in bans, but whenever there is a World Cup Pakistani players rise to the occasion.

“Look at the available talent, Afridi can single-handedly win a Twenty20 match as he is equally lethal with bat and ball, and then the depth in bowling makes Pakistan favourites.”

Wasim said India was also eager to win.

“What I have seen is a remarkable passion in the Indian players as well as in the public to win this title, and they too have a very good team,” he said.

The famous left-arm paceman, who has never played a Twenty20 international as the format started after his 2003 retirement, took 414 Test and 502 one-day wickets, and also played for Lancashire county with distinction.

“You cannot rule out an Indo-Pak final, which will do a world of good for international cricket.”

Pakistan is placed in Group A alongwith Bangladesh and Australia, while India is in Group C with South Africa and Afghanistan. Two teams from each of four groups will qualify for Super Eight Stages.

Wasim said Australia and South Africa were also strong.

“Australia and South Africa are also capable of winning but the nature of the West Indies pitches make Pakistan and India favourites, because they will help sub-continent spinners,” said Wasim.

“But to win a Twenty20 match you need to play good cricket for three and a half hours because the match can swing with one good performance, so teams on their toes all the time have good chances,” said Wasim.

ICC World Twenty20

Legendary pacer Wasim Akram on Wednesday backed the appointment of Shahid Afridi as captain of the Pakistan team for the Twenty20 World Cup in the West Indies, saying his aggressive approach towards the shortest the format of the game makes him the right choice.

“Afridi has been captaining Pakistan cricket in T20 internationals and under the circumstances, he is the best man to lead in the Caribbean. He has a lot of energy and this format of the game, needs his aggressive mindset,” Akram said.

Akram, however, cautioned Afridi to control his emotions as the nation’s prestige will be in his hands during the Twenty20 World Cup starting April 30.

“Surely, he will now be thinking about the World Cup because the nation’s prestige will be in his hands. He just has to control his wildfire emotions. Afridi may have earned Pakistan some bad name by the chewing-the-ball incident in Perth in January-end, but all that is forgotten now,” Akram wrote in his column.

Pakistan Cricket Board had on Tuesday named 30-year-old Afridi skipper of the team for the T20 World Cup, bringing an end to the uncertainty on the leadership issue.

The honour for Afridi, who was recently fined Rs 3 million for his ball-tampering act in Australia, came hours after he had received the President’s Pride of Performance award, a top civilian honour, for his feats in the T20 World Cup in England last year.

Former captain Akram said Afridi has found two able allies in coaches Waqar Younis and Ejaz Ahmed who understand the game and the body language of the players much better than others.

“Afridi has a few advantages with coaches Waqar and Ejaz. I think this is the best team management Pakistan can ask for,” Akram said.

“I am happy for Waqar. He always wanted to be the coach of Pakistan. And why not? Waqar has played the game at the highest level, he knows the modern methods and can be a hard task master. Ejaz has been one of Pakistan’s brilliant all-rounders and a good motivator. This combination should work well,” he said.

Akram said he was always available for the team and if Waqar calls him for the camps, he will be happy to go and share a few thoughts with the bowlers.

“Well, I am always available for the Pakistan team. Unlike many of our senior cricketers, I am not hankering for money from the PCB. I am available for free as long as my professional commitments are not compromised,” he said.

Akram said the biggest enemies of the Pakistan cricket were its ex-players and a lot of negative energy had flown through nation’s cricket in the recent times.

“I think the biggest enemies of Pakistan cricket have been our ex-players. The biggest paradox in this respect is Javed Miandad. He has been the single biggest critic of the PCB and the interesting thing is, Javedbhai is one of the highest paid employees of the Board!.

“There are quite a few former captains who are doing this using the many media channels. My understanding is that they are all gunning for paid positions in the PCB. Give them a job and they will be quiet.

“Not much time is left for the World Cup. Mental conditioning, regimented training and discipline will be factors to succeed. T20 is not an easy game. Shorter the version, less is the margin for error. But Pakistan have the ingredients to explode on the world scene once again. Go for it, boys,” he said.

Manjrekar had no doubt that Mahendra Singh Dhoni would lead the most formidable squad to try and defend the title they won in 2007 even though he was candid enough to admit it doesn’t necessarily mean they would win the title again.

“India certainly look the strongest team on paper, even though that does not mean they would win the title again,” Manjrekar said.

Reminded that India could not defend the ODI World Cup title which they had won in 1983 under Kapil Dev, Manjrekar said Dhoni’s men were a much stronger unit and stood better chance to lift the trophy again.

“Soon after the 1983 World Cup, West Indies toured India and hammered us. Unlike them, Dhoni’s team is strong enough to defend their title,” Manjrekar said in a programme in which ESPN STAR Sports announced that the Twenty20 World Cup would be viewed in 216 countries across the globe.

Manjrekar felt this Indian team is stronger than the side that won the inaugural tournament in 2007 and dismissed notion they would be bogged down by the pressure of defending the title.

“I would say this time we actually have a stronger team with enough experience in the ranks. The way players like Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma have come up, it makes India a worthy defender of the title,” Manjrekar said.

“About pressure, I think we are used to it and it’s Dhoni’s second nature to go out with the burden of expectation on his shoulder.”

His view found an echo in Akram, who in fact went on to dismiss media reports that had quoted him as saying that India was no more a favourite in the tournament because of the fatigue factor.

“I did say that fatigue is a concern for India since they have been playing non-stop cricket for a long time but I never said they are not the favourites,” explained the former Pakistan captain.

Like Manjrekar, Akram too felt the Indian team would not crumble under pressure.

“Some teams thrive in pressure, like Australia did till the other day. And I think India too can emulate them,” he said.

Akram, however, warned that Pakistan would be itching to prove themselves after missing international cricket for a while owing to security situation in the country.

“I think the Pakistan team had enough rest and they are hungry to prove their worth and they did well against Australia in the recent ODI series,” he said.

“In this format, Pakistan has got the perfect player in Shahid Afridi, who is bowling well and it would be great if he regains his batting form as well. Then you have Shoaib Malik who can both bat and bowl and Ajmal Khan has also been cleared (of suspect action charges), which makes Pakistan a very balanced side,” Akram said.

Afridi’s inconsistent batting has been a concern for Pakistan and Akram said the explosive all-rounder is unlikely to change.

“When I was the captain, people used to ask me why didn’t I guide him. Well, we used to have team meetings in which I used to tell him something and he would say ‘yes captain’ and then walk out and get out in the first ball.

“I could not change him in 10 years and I don’t think anyone can change him even in 100 years,” Akram quipped.

Meanwhile, both he and Manjrekar agreed that Twenty20 is not about mindless slogging alone.

“IPL proved that you need certain skills to negotiate the spinner. You just cannot walk out and start slogging a spinner with a heavy bat. You have to have good footwork and some intuition,” Manjrekar said.

Akram seconded his view and said a batsman would need to plan his innings in order to excel in this format.

“It has been proved that Twenty20 is altogether a different ball game, compared to what people initially thought. You just cannot go there and play your shots right from the word go. You have to get your eyes in and plan your innings. I think we are going to see scores in the vicinity of 170-180 in England,” Akram said.