Pakistan desperate for wins as Cup cut off looms

Battered and bruised after six consecutive Test defeats, a new-look Pakistan side enter this VB ODI series against Australia knowing that another heavy series defeat would be a significant blow to their chances of automatic qualification for the 2019 World Cup.

Under new rules brought in following the last World Cup, 2019 hosts England and the other seven-highest ranked ODI nations as of September 30 this year will qualify automatically for the game's showpiece event.

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Those ranked ninth and below at the cut-off date will be forced to compete in the 10-team qualifier tournament in March of next year, with the top two nations there also qualifying for the main event.

Pakistan are currently ranked eighth in the world on 89 points, just two points ahead of the West Indies in ninth, and are in very real danger of dropping out of the top eight by September.

A 5-0 series whitewash here against the best ODI team in the world will see them drop a point to 88 ahead of what could be a decisive three-match series against the Windies in April, which was announced overnight.

But Pakistan will remain on 89 points if they win at least one game in this series, while two or more victories would see them gain crucial points and stretch their lead over the Windies. 

And in the case of a shock series win, the tourists would move ahead of Bangladesh and into seventh place.

"We're not far from the cut-off date so we want to stay in the top eight," skipper Azhar Ali said today ahead of the series opener in Brisbane tomorrow.

"Obviously this is a big challenge and we all know that, but it's an opportunity for us to express ourselves and a good result would be great for our ranking.

"When you play in Australia and you do well, it will be wonderful for the confidence of our team."

Ali took over the captaincy of the ODI side following the 2015 World Cup and has guided his side to just 13 wins in 29 matches since then, with five of those wins coming against Zimbabwe and Ireland.

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Having won series against Zimbabwe (twice) and Sri Lanka early in Ali's tenure, Pakistan have since suffered series defeats to England (twice) and New Zealand, which led to their slide down the world rankings.

But they responded with a crucial 3-0 series whitewash over the Windies last October and enter the series on a four-match winning streak.

And Ali says his side has been boosted by the inclusion of experienced white-ball specialists like Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik and Umar Akmal after an exhausting period that has seen them play a total of 26 matches across all formats since July last year in the UK, Ireland, the UAE, New Zealand and Australia. 

"Obviously we have to start fresh (after the Test series) and some fresh faces have come into the team," Ali said.

"It's been a long, long tour. We've played a lot of cricket since England so it's always good to have fresh energy in the team and we're looking forward to a fresh series.

"As a team we have improved and in our last four or five games our performances have been really good. We want to keep building on that and improve our performances."

Ali confirmed reports from earlier this week that star wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfraz Ahmed will miss the start of the series after he flew home to be with his mother, who has fallen ill.

Mohammad Rizwan will take the gloves in Sarfraz's absence.