They've already punched above their weight to march into the World Cup semifinals with an enviable ease and a win over firm favorites India here at the PCA Stadium on Wednesday will prove that they are still a force to be reckoned with.
At this World Cup, Pakistan have overcome two of the pre-tournament favorties - Sri Lanka and Australia - and they are now looking to scalp the Indians.
It's a gigantic task, but Shahid Afridi is confident his troops can achieve it.
"It's our dream to win the World Cup and tomorrow we hope to take a big step towards by beating India," Afridi told 'Arab News' on Tuesday.
"We did well when not many expected us to and now it's time to raise our game to the next level. We are desperate to win this Cup and would go all out for a place in the final," he stressed.
Pakistan cricket has endured its darkest phase in recent times. The country has become a no-go zone for international team due to security fears. Just months before the World Cup, Pakistan got embroiled in an embarrassing scandal when three of their leading players were accused and later banned for spot fixing.
But Afridi is aware that a win against old rivals India will wipe away all such bitter memories. "It's the biggest match this group of boys has ever played and I'm confident that Pakistan will give its best in it."
Afridi heaped praise on his players, saying that they were itching to take the field for the high-pressure match. "A few of the players are playing really mature cricket especially youngsters like Umar Akmal and Asad Shafiq. They have been waiting for this game," he said.
Pakistan are unlikely to make many changes to the line-up that helped them drown West Indies by 10 wickets in last week's quarterfinal in Dhaka, but they are mulling the option of bringing Shoaib Akhtar for the high-voltage encounter.
"Shoaib is one of our key players," said Afridi. "The only problem is that we are not sure whether he is fit enough to bowl his full quota of ten overs. But we are still thinking about it and will decide before the match whether to pick him or not."
If Akhtar, who is set to retire after the World Cup is picked, then left-arm pacer Wahab Riaz will have to sit out.
Pakistan will once again be relying on Umar Gul to get them some early wickets, especially against India who have a potent top order spearheaded by Sachin Tendulkar.
"One big positive sign for us is that Gul is desperate to have a go against the Indians. He is in good form and rhythm and I have great expectations from him."
Afridi himself will be the key to Pakistan's hopes and the skipper knows it. Afridi has been pivotal in Pakistan's accent to the last-four with 21 wickets at 10.7. He has taken a wicket every 18 balls and his economy rate is 3.49. "As captain, I will have to make it sure that my own performance is really good tomorrow," he said.
Afridi, who is going through an awful run of form with the bat, has vowed that if need be he will contribute as a batsman too. "I know how important my batting is for my team, so, God willing, I will perform with the bat as well tomorrow," said the all-rounder who has scored just 65 runs in the tournament.
This is the first time Pakistan and India will face each in a World Cup knockout match since their explosive quarterfinal clash in the 1996 World Cup that India won by 39 runs.
India have prevailed in all four World Cup meetings against Pakistan. But in Mohali, Pakistan have won both their games. The last time, they faced each other here, Younis Khan hit a match-winning 117 to help Pakistan chase 322 successfully.
Afridi is confident that Younis and fellow middle-order batsman Misbah-ul-Haq will shine in the crunch game. "Senior players like Younis and Misbah have to play the lead role to lift our batting and I'm sure that they will do it."
MS Dhoni, Afridi's counterpart, is wary of Pakistan's bowling attack.
"They have a very good attack," said Dhoni. "Since they have a couple of bowling all-rounders in form of (Abdul) Razzaq and (Shahid) Afridi, it gives them the liberty of playing with more than five bowlers."
All eyes will be on Tendulkar, who will be looking for his 100th international hundred. The master blaster has featured in all four of India's World Cup wins against Pakistan, scoring 54 not out, 31, 45 and 98.
Ashish Nehra's impressive track record against Pakistan is expected to earn him Indian team management's nod to play today's game.
Sources told 'Arab News' that Team India think-tank was seriously considering bringing in the left-arm pacer in place on Munaf Patel for the match against Pakistan.
Nehra, 31, has the knack for picking up wickets in matches against Pakistan. He picked up 4-55 in the 2009 Champions Trophy game against the Pakistanis.
The fast bowler has been sidelined since India's loss to South Africa in a group game in Nagpur on March 12. Nehra, who finished with figures of 0-65 off 8.4 overs in that match, failed to stop the Proteas from scoring 13 runs to reach the target in his final over.
But on Tuesday, there were indications that India were thinking about bringing him back to their playing eleven. The lanky player had a longish turn with the bat in the nets.
The Mohali pitch seems to be full of runs though dew could be a factor in the second half of the match. The average first innings score here is 253 and of the fifteen floodlit matches played here so far, 10 have been won by the side batting first. This is the first time Mohali is hosting a day-night game in this tournament.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Ravichandran Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Munaf Patel.
: Gary Kirsten (RSA).
Shahid Afridi (capt), Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Abdur Rehman, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan, Ahmed Shahzad.
Waqar Younis (PAK).
Simon Taufel (AUS) and Ian Gould (ENG).
Billy Bowden (NZL).
Ranjan Madugalle (SRI).
Renowned as a good batting surface, it usually also has plenty of pace and bounce for fast bowlers too.
