Afridi pegs England, India in World Cup final

Ag APPISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi has predicted World Cup hosts England and India will make it into the final but also urged Pakistan to win their remaining four-matches of the tournament.Afridi said he thinks England, India, Australia and New Zealand will make it to the semi-finals but ultimately it will be the hosts and India that will vie for the trophy.“There was a time when India used to struggle in bowling but now they have improved their standard of cricket very much,” Afridi said while speaking to Shoaib Akhtar on his YouTube channel. “They have some good spinners and fast bowlers.”He added Pakistan must play their natural game without pressure in the remaining matches. Citing India’s example, he said former Indian batting great Rahul Dravid has been assigned to the Indian under-19 side.“We must also utilise the services of Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf and Abdul Razzaq for our U-19 team,” he said.Afridi, who has taken 48 Test wickets and over 350 in ODIs, said Younis, Yousuf and Razzaq understand today’s modern cricket very well and therefore can prove very useful for the U-19 side. He said the Pakistan team is suffering with the same old problems like poor fitness and sub-par fielding. “Good batsmen provide lesser chances of catches and we drop them.”

from The News International - Sports http://bit.ly/2LfFRFg