Only one team from India and Pakistan will reach semi-finals, Aaqib Javed

Former Pakistan pacer Aaqib Javed has predicted that one of the teams from India and Pakistan will reach the semi-finals, terming South Africa the favorite from the group.

While talking to Cricket Pakistan in an exclusive interview, the 50-year-old said that Asian teams Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka might face difficulties in Australian conditions. Still, these conditions will be very favorable for England, Australia and New Zealand.

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"South Africa has a better chance of qualifying in the semi-finals as they will perform better on these pitches, I see one of the teams from Pakistan and India going to the semi-finals," Aaqib said.

Lahore Qalandars' head coach opined it would be challenging for Indian batters to perform in Australian conditions in front of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf.

"No team has bowlers like these three. Haris Rauf has shown very charismatic bowling so far while Shaheen Afridi can be very effective because of the swing and bounce on the pitches here. The presence of Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf is enough to make the rival teams sleepless," he added.

On the other hand, Aaqib thinks Pakistan can adopt the position that if the Indian team does not come to Pakistan to play in the Asia Cup, then the Pakistani team will also not travel to India to play in the World Cup.

"It is definitely a difficult task, but if this position is to be adopted, then PCB should stick to it. We should also remember that Jay Shah's decision not to come and play in the Asia Cup in Pakistan is not his own as it is Modi's government's policy," he added.

"One match between Pakistan and India gives the Asian Cricket Council a year's worth of revenue. They would also like to see the participation of these two teams. There is no fault of both the cricket boards in this issue, these are decisions made on a political basis. In the current situation, it does not seem possible that they will send their team to Pakistan under any pressure. The ACC will also try to ensure that India participates in the Asia Cup," he added.