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A step away from realising a dream

A star of Pakistan's 1992 and only World Cup triumph, team captain Wasim Akram said he never thought he'd be playing in another final. Now he's on the verge of realising his dream.

Wasim, 32, won the World Cup as a member of Imran Khan's champion side seven years ago, but was on the fringe of quitting international cricket last year, pained by allegations of being hand in glove with bookmakers in fixing matches.

A strange twist of cricket politics six months ago brought him back to lead the Pakistan side for the third time. Entering the final after seven years has reignited Wasim's hopes of winning the World Cup again.

"I never imagined that I'll be playing in another World Cup final,'' Wasim said after Pakistan crushed New Zealand by nine wickets in the semi-final at Old Trafford.

"We are just a step away from winning the title and realising a dream. If we play to our potential, which we are doing at the moment, winning the World Cup is not a distant dream anymore.''

Pakistan's opponent in Sunday's final will be the winner of Thursday's Australia-South Africa semi-final at Edgbaston.

Wasim said he was not bothered by which opponents comes through to the final. Pakistan beat Australia in a preliminary group match but lost to South Africa in the Super Six clash.

"I don't mind any side through from the other semi-final,'' Wasim said. "We can tackle both of them. My boys want to think we are better.
"We'll obviously be looking at the other semi-final, but I don't want to predict who will win there. Anything can happen in cricket.''

Wasim said his players were now in peak form.
"Our side is full of talent and things are now falling into place,'' he said. "The opponents would be getting worried now that we've showed that we can chase fairly big targets. Chasing six runs an over against us is going to be difficult for any side."

Pakistan team's body language now conveys the confidence of going the full distance.
"We needed a boost in chasing targets and we've got that in the semi-final.''

Wasim said winning the semi-final at Old Trafford was an emotional moment for him as he had recently finished his decade-long stint with Lancashire.

"This was perhaps my last game at Old Trafford and was an emotional moment. It's like my second home,'' he said.

The Pakistan skipper said his players were so charged up for the game against New Zealand that they could barely sleep last night.
"We just couldn't get enough sleep as all boys were charged up for the semi-final. Look at Shoaib (Aakhtar), he couldn't get a wink,'' Wasim said.
"The boys have already begun dreaming of the World Cup. It's not beyond us.''

AP