Afridi says India, England are favourites to play World Cup 2019 final

Former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi has predicted that England and India will play the 2019 Cricket World Cup final.

Afridi, also known as Boom Boom, has backed England, India, Australia and New Zealand to make it to the semi-finals but he feels that the tournament hosts and the Men in Blue will go on to play the final on July 14.

"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 talking to Shoaib Akhtar on his YouTube channel. "They have some good spinners and fast bowlers."

Regarding Pakistan, he said that the Men in Green "must play their natural game without pressure in the remaining matches".

He cited India's example of appointing Rahul Dravid as the head coach of their U-19 side and urged the Pakistan Cricket Board to use its own cricket legends.

"We must also utilise the services of Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf and Abdul Razzaq for the U-19 team," he advised.

Afridi, who took 48 Test wickets and over 350 in ODIs, said that Younis, Yousuf and Razzaq understand today's modern cricket very well and therefore can prove very useful for the u19 side.

"Skill development programmes must be taught to players in the academies available in Pakistan," he said, stressing that a player without skills cannot survive in the team.

Afridi further said that Pakistan team is suffering from "the same old problems like poor fitness and below-par fielding".

"Good batsmen provide lesser chances of catches and [when they do] we drop them," he rued.

Afridi, however, backed the Pakistan players saying "this is the best we have got."

"Babar Azam has been very consistent in his performances and I want him to become an even bigger player like Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson and Steve Smith," he said, as he advised the starlet to prolong his innings like his contemporaries.

"Cricket has become very different now and facing 25 to 30 balls is enough for a batsmen to settle down," he said, referring to Azam's proclivity of taking time to get going.

Afridi also pointed towards the diminishing number of ODI matches played in the domestic circuit as a possible reason for the team's poor World Cup showing.

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