Pakistan on course for semifinal in India: ICC

Pakistan will play a World Cup semifinal in India should they beat the West Indies in Dhaka on Wednesday, the International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed.

There had been suggestions that, were Pakistan to reach the last four, their semifinal would be switched to the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo because of security concerns.

However, ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat insisted on Wednesday that the schedule remains unchanged.

"I just want to confirm the venues for semi-finals," he said.

"Pakistan vs West Indies (quarterfinal) in Bangladesh and India vs Australia on Thursday, the winners will go on to meet in Mohali on March 30.

"New Zealand vs South Africa and Sri Lanka vs England, the winners will play in Colombo on March 29. That will not change."

Asked if the ICC had security concerns about Pakistan playing in India, Lorgat replied: "Why would there be concerns? We've got very, very robust and secure security processes in place."

The South African added the ICC would do their best to "expedite visa issues" should Pakistan qualify for the semifinals.

Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi, speaking last week, insisted: "We are here to play the World Cup, so wherever we have to play we will go and we have no fears over going to India.

"I think a cricket match has always brought the people of both countries together and has the capacity to improve relations between the two."

The relationship between the nuclear rivals has been at breaking point since the terror attacks on Mumbai in 2008, which New Delhi blamed on extremists based in Pakistan.

Those attacks also led India to scrap bilateral cricket series with Pakistan, although the two countries played against each other in the Champions Trophy in South Africa in 2009.

Pakistan vs West Indies Pak vs WI Quarter Final World Cup 2011 Cricket Live Score, Streaming and Highlights

West Indies play Pakistan in the first quarter-finals of the Cricket World Cup 201 which will be played at the Shere Bangla in Mirpur, Bangladesh on March 23, 2011. Click to watch live ball-by-ball commentary.

West Indies fiery opener Chris Gayle is expected to play against Pakistan after recovering from an abdominal strain. Gayle sustained the injury after West Indies’ third group-stage match against Bangladesh in Dhaka. Watch Live Streaming.

West Indies will look to change their run in the quarter-finals after having lost their three games to the Test-playing nations in the league stage. They went down to India, South Africa and England, where, they could have won two of the three games.

Pakistan have been far more consistent and will look to ensure that they can carry forward this form to the next round. They will be favourites to win this game.

Meanwhile the Bangladesh officials have assured State-level security to the West Indies cricket team, It can be recalled that the West Indies bus carrying the players was pelted stones by an angry crowd after Bangladesh’s humiliating defeat.

Bangladesh’s exit from the World cup might impact the attendance at Mirpur, the venue will also host the quarter-final clash between New Zealand and South Africa on March 25.

The highlights videos will be uploaded here after the match is over, so stay tuned.

The West Indies may not have won a game against the big guns yet but are hoping to improve on that record in the first quarterfinal against Pakistan. "It's a do-or-die match," their skipper Darren Sammy said on Tuesday.

"The good thing is that this is the ground where we executed our plans perfectly, so it's good to be back here." Sammy was referring to the game in which his bowlers dismissed Bangladesh for a paltry 58 in a league game.

Sammy is also upbeat that the fitness levels of two crucial players - Chris Gayle and Kemar Roach - don't seem to be an issue any longer. "Both Gayle and Roach participated in our practice today. Roach bowled, Gayle batted and I liked the way they looked. "I know we'll be able to come out with the best combination to win us the quarterfinal. On Wednesday, we'll know the outcome. I know Chris is a very committed fellow and will do whatever it takes to be in a position to win. So come tomorrow I have no doubt he'll do the best that is required," Sammy said.

When TOI spoke to Gayle, he too sounded optimistic. "I'm certainly hopeful of playing the match. It's an important game and we are ready," Gayle said.

So what went wrong with the team during those big matches against South Africa, England and India? Sammy merely smiled and said: "I need some help explaining that. We just crumbled. We lost our way.

"Like I said then, we can't keep losing wickets in patches like that. But that said, we keep finding ourselves in positions where we can win matches. I think in the quarterfinal stage we must grab the opportunity we get."