1) Kenya reached 2003 Semis in a much tougher and more intensive tournament format where there were super sixes with points carried over as opposed to just quarter final ties after the first round
2) New Zealand even reached 2011 semis after being in turmoil with 4-0 loss in Bangladesh in 2010 and 5-0 in India in 2010
3) Pakistan historically have played the most World Cup Semis along with Australia and New Zealand
4) It was in Asian conditions
5) The tournament format suited Pak as it was about easing your way into the tournament
6) It was an Open World Cup
7) All major test playing nations reached the knock out stages; Pak just went 1 game further
8) Pakistan had the advantage of playing all their pre quarter final games in one country unlike other teams
9) Harsha Bhogle and Nick Knight even had Pakistan down as favourties
10) Pakistan’s white ball form had been decent. World T20 winners in 2009 and the last 3 series they played leading up to 2011 WC were won or lost by a 3-2 score line
11) In those conditions they always stood a better chance than England, West Indies and New Zealand for example and teams like Australia and England were suffering from injuries with batsmen like Hussey and Morgan
12) Pakistan were not in the harder group in the qualifying stages
13) Spot fixing scandal did not have huge effects on the one day team like the hole it filled in the test team. Butt was hit and miss in one day matches. Asif was not a one day bowler unless wickets suited him. Amir was a lesser bowler in one day matches than he was in test matches as his record showed and Gul/Akhtar could easily fill in here.