Former Pakistan all-rounder Mudassar Nazar feels that the present strong Indian national cricket team will be unlucky if they don’t qualify for the semi-finals in the upcoming Cricket World Cup.
The 2019 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup will begin in less than one week. The no.1-ranked ODI team England and the no.2-ranked ODI team India are the favourites of this tournament.
The 63-year-old Mudassar Nazar feels that India has all the bases covered. Apart from the top-class batsmen, India has also a good number of fast bowlers and spinners. He believes that India will only miss the semi-finals spot in the upcoming Cricket World Cup due to their poor luck.
Nazar told Sportstar, “They have all the bases covered. They have got top-class batsmen who can bat deep down the order. They have the best batsman in the world (Virat Kohli) as its captain. The fast bowlers are quick and they have a couple of spin bowlers as well. It has all the thing, so India will be unlucky if it doesn’t reach the knockout stage.”
In the knock out stage, anything can happen – Mudassar Nazar
Nazar feels that anything can happen in the knock-out stages. Talking about this, Nazar gave the example of 2017 ICC Champions Trophy final where Pakistan beat India while India was the favourite team.
He added, “In the knock out stage, anything can happen. In 2017 Champions Trophy, it lost to Pakistan in the final despite being the favourite. So, one bad day can hurt teams. But with nine matches in the league stage, India should sail.”
India’s batting looks quite formidable – Mudassar Nazar
Nazar has claimed that the Indian batting looks quite formidable from the opening to the middle-order batting. He also mentioned the importance of MS Dhoni’s high experiences.
He said, “Look at your two opening batsmen (Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan), they are top class. When Sharma gets going, he outscores anyone. The middle-order needs to (stick around) and then there is (MS) Dhoni. He comes with so much experience. So, their batting looks quite formidable.”
Mudassar Nazar spoke about the Pakistan World Cup squad
Nazar feels that Pakistan can also play strong cricket in the upcoming Cricket World Cup. He supports the return of Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Amir in the World Cup squad. He also has high faith in Shadab Khan’s leg-spin as he feels that it will be very useful for Pakistan in the upcoming Cricket World Cup.
Nazar said, “It is a very positive sign. There is Wahab Riaz and Shadab on top of that. All three coming in to side (will help). The pitches so far have been very placid, so I feel Shadab is going to be very useful with his leg-spin. He can be brought in when you need to pick wickets. Aamir can open the bowling and pick a few wickets and Riaz can bowl when the ball starts reversing and also at the death. So, this was something missing in the Pakistan team when they played ODIs against England.
“Pakistan batsmen posted huge totals, but they lost the games. So, it was important to get out of the hole and Pakistan has done that by making a few changes in the squad.”
Mudassar Nazar lauded Mohammad Hasnain
Nazar also praised the 19-year-old Pakistan right-arm pacer Mohammad Hasnain. His fast bowling and variations have impressed Nazar. However, former Pakistan right-arm medium pacer Nazar believes that Hasnain needs to improve his run-up.
Nazar said, “He bowls quick and has variation. He hurt his ankle during the U-19 days, but he never lost hope. And then he came back strong in the Pakistan Super League. I hope he grows stronger and bowls faster and of course become a better bowler. He still has a lot to do on his run-up.”
The 2019 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup will begin on 30th May, and it will run till 14th July. England and Wales will host this 12th edition of the Cricket World Cup where a total of top ten teams will participate. The participating teams are England, Australia, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, South Africa, New Zealand, Afghanistan and Windies. While England will play as the host side, Australia will participate in this tournament as the defending champions.
In the opening match of the tournament (30th May), England will face South Africa at The Oval (London).