Former Pakistan cricketer and World Cup winner Aaqib Javed believes Pakistan have what it takes to beat India in the ODI World Cup later this year.

Javed shed light on how balanced the Pakistan team looks compared to the Men in Blue. He also claimed that some of the star Indian players aren’t fit enough to perform at the highest level and also don’t have the form to get back to their best.

Speaking to the reporters, here’s what Aaqib Javed had to say about the India-Pakistan clash (via Cricwick):

“I think Pakistan side is balanced and the age graph of players is much better, India are on that stage where they have big names but their fitness and form is not up to the mark. They will struggle and might have to find new players to form a combination. I think Pakistan have a great chance of beating India in India.”

Aqeeb Javed rates Zaman Khan higher than Naseem Shah

Pakistan now have a settled pace-bowling combination in white-ball cricket with the likes of Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, and Naseem Shah. However, Aaqib Javed has claimed that Zaman Khan should replace Naseem as Pakistan’s third pacer in white-ball cricket.

Javed is the coach of the Lahore Qalandars and has worked closely with Zaman. he feels the pacer is sensational at the death and has to be utilized by the Men in Green. On this, he stated:

“In white-ball cricket, the skills that Zaman Khan has, we have recently been in Canada, I think he is one of the best death ball bowlers in the world riight now. I rate him higher than Naseem in white-ball cricket. Shaheen, Haris and Zaman, they should be your bowlers in white-ball cricket and then you can go down to Naseem Shah.”

Pakistan’s ODI Squad for Afghanistan series and Asia Cup: Babar Azam (capt), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Tayyab Tahir, Mohammad Haris (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim.