Taste Test World Cup approaches with less than its normal vigor Click here for more on this story Posted: Wednesday May 12, 1999 11:00 AM   Wasim Akram has a reason to laugh, mainly because Pakistan is one of the favorites to win the Cricket World Cup. AP By Tunku Varadarajan, CNN/SI Talk about a turnaround in tastes. The World Cup is fizzing its way towards us and, for the first time ever, one-day cricket appears to be marginally less popular with the crowds than the traditional Test match. People love limited-overs cricket, of course. But Test cricket has enjoyed a sizzling revival, revealing a tension and complexity, a Shakespearean quality even, which the one-day game can never hope to match. India's Tests against Pakistan teased and tormented millions of fans, with the players lifting their game to impressive heights. And a little left-hander from Trinidad, in another series played a short while later, surpassed even those heights. Brian Lara saved cricket in the West Indies with two monumental innings, as the islanders fought Australia in perhaps the greatest Test series of this decade. The one-day series that followed was tied too, but the cricket was flat by comparison. The World Cup in England thus starts with Test cricket in rude good health. This was not the case in 1996, and this is no bad thing. Each form of cricket tends to flower best when the other is also blooming: their relationship is symbiotic. Cricket's world has changed since the last cup. Sri Lanka, the effervescent champion, is now looking long in the tooth. Its players are elderly and jaded and have lost many more games than they have won since they lifted the cup in Lahore. No one but a die-hard patriot would now regard them as contenders for the cup; and we have a situation in England where, for the first time in history, the reigning champions are but rank outsiders. Going by form and consistency, South Africa has been the best one-day side since the last cup was played. There is a relentless quality to their cricket. Their bench strength is striking. They scarcely ever have a bad day at the office. They are not pretty to watch - I'd travel longer distances to see the Sri Lankans play - but theirs is the triumph of method over style, of vigor over flourish. The Australians are the best Test match side, although their sojourn in the West Indies shows that they are not invincible. Australia's one-day form, however, has been erratic and its bowling has seldom been of the highest class. Too often, batsmen have taken them by the scruff, and shaken them dead. Sachin Tendulkar, for one, will lick his lips at the sight of Shane Warne. The West Indies, who once lorded it over the one-day stage, appear to have recovered some of their old vim. The ghosts of their South African tour have been exorcised, and Lara could win them the cup on his own. So could Tendulkar for India. But these two teams depend too much on the genius of one. England, for its part, has no genius on which to bank. It is a boring side, and bores ought not to win. My money and my vote go to Pakistan. They have panache, variety, inspiration and style. In points of fact Pakistan are a veritable foil for the South Africans. I'd travel to Mars to watch them play. If Wasim Akram were to go out to toss with Hansie Cronje in the final on June 20, and win the game, how bracing that would be for cricket.   Related information Multimedia Click here for the latest audio and video Search our site Watch CNN/SI 24 hours a day Sports Illustrated and CNN have combined to form a 24 hour sports news and information channel. To receive CNN/SI at your home call 1-888-53-CNNSI.

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