Centurion, Sept. 22: Pakistan go into their opening Group A game against a weakened West Indies looking to set aside the handicap of losing skipper Younis Khan to a hairline finger fracture at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

Khan, 31, picked up the injury in the course of the Pakistanis’ first practice match against the Sri Lankans in Benoni five days ago, leaving all-rounder Shahid Afridi to take up the leader’s mantle against the group minnows. India and Australia are the two other teams in this group and Pakistan said they were hopeful Khan would recover in time for the big game against India on Saturday.

Said Pakistan manager Yawar Saeed, "Even if he does not play against the West Indies, he will be fit in time for the big game against India on the 26th." Added Younis: "It’s a little fracture. Nothing serious. Hopefully it should be all right."

Speaking after nets on Tuesday, Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam said there was no major problem. "Younis’ injury is not life threatening, and he will probably play against India. He is strong and tough and can play with painkillers. He wouldn’t want to miss the match."

"We have stability and depth in our batting department and the bowling is well planned.

"We have a couple of world class spinners in Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi and our fielding has been tremendous in the build-up. We are going out there to win every match and I am pretty sure we can make the final."

Pakistan — originally scheduled to host this event — look too strong for a West Indian side weakened by an ongoing contract dispute between their cricket board and the first-choice players. Floyd Reifer’s team even went down to Bangladesh in a Test and one-day international series at home and the current T20 world champions will want to get their Champions Trophy campaign off to a bright start.

Blessed with a powerful, if mercurial, batting side, Afridi will want his bowlers to come good. Mohammad Asif ends his IPL-mandated dope ban at midnight on Tuesday and is therefore technically available for selection, but is unlikely to play given his year-long break from top flight cricket.

That means Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamer and Rana Naveed to lead with the new ball with Afridi himself and off-spinner Ajmal operating behind them. And with batsmen like Mohammad Yousuf, Kamran and Umar Akmal, besides Afridi, to set or chase totals, Pakistan look a little too strong for the West Indies.

Added Intikhab: "If one batsman gets a century and two others score 60 or 70, it will be a job well done. Whether it’s one, two, three or four, someone needs a century. All eight teams in the Champions Trophy have very strong batting and nothing less than 280 will do."

Pakistan are, thus, wary of what could come their way from an equally mercurial team, bit on the evidence of the recent past.

The West Indies have not really found the personnel to fill the gaps created by the absence of the likes of Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Bravo or Jerome Taylor.