Who will win the worlds most prestigious event? Let us keep our fingers crossed. As a result of Pakistans victory over Kiwis in the last series, the people considers our team to have recovered from the shocks and disasters of the past. The experts on the subject, however, have conflicting opinions. There is no doubt that the team which performs better wins. A resume of the last years international cricket will indicate that some of the teams performed exceedingly well on the international scene while Pakistan only defeated an under-strength New Zealand. Keeping the invisible element of luck aside, the experts opine that Australia, South Africa, India and Sri Lanka will reach the semi finals. There is, however, no denying the maxim that 'cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties and it has proved true many times. The World Cup-2011 is the 10th Edition of the great event which started in 1975. The results of the nine previous events will show that Australia which dominates the world cricket emerged victorious four times followed by the West Indies which won the World Cup twice. India Pakistan and Sri Lanka clinched the honour once each. Surprisingly, England generally considered as the second best team in the world hit the finals on three occasions but never won the World Cup. Similarly South Africa which has been one of the leading teams has even failed to reach the finals. It clearly proves that the role of luck and the element of crickets 'uncertain character play their due roles in the games output. As for the Pakistan teams chances of winning the World Cup, while the morale of the team looks quite high, the team officials appear pretty optimistic. The height of optimism is such that Manager Intikhab Alam even believes that 'a half fit Shoaib Akhtar can win the World Cup for Pakistan. Our team is an unusual blend of 25 percent experience and 75 percent youth though some of the youngsters are talented as well as in good form. Considering the composition of our pool, Australia and Sri Lanka are strong opponents while New Zealand is beatable. Reaching the quarter finals is thus not difficult for our team. Rest will be seen when the team reaches this stage. RAFI NASIM Lahore