Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif believes that Asian teams including Pakistan and India will find it tough to match the power hitting skills of other teams in the upcoming ODI World Cup.
In a recent interview, Latif said the likes of England, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa would bring something new with their approach in the 50-over showpiece scheduled in India from October 5-November 19.
"The one area where I feel Asian teams will struggle to match these sides are particularly in the middle overs when a fast strike rate is required even in 50-overs," the former wicket-keeper batter told Cricket Baaz.
"The English, Australian and New Zealand batters have turned to reverse sweep and switch shots against the spinners into something very lethal nowadays."
Latif impressed with England team combination
He also noted that England in particular were also well versed in using their spinners in the middle overs.
"A bowler like Adil Rashid or someone like Moeen Ali buy their wickets whereas our spinners focus more on economical bowling. This will be one of the most closely contested World Cups and I don't see Asian teams getting any extra edge because it is being held in India."
Latif, who played in the 1996 and 2003 World Cups, also noted that India was struggling in selection and lost the recent T20 series in West Indies because of not allowing new players to settle down properly.
Latif talks about Indian team's experiments
"Indian team management has experimented with several players and if I talk about their batting the middle and lower order say from 4 to 7 they just have not allowed any new player to settle down with frequent changes."
Rashid said though risky, India would now have to just depend on seniors in the World Cup.
"I say risky because KL and Iyer are returning from injuries."
Rashid had no doubt that handing the captaincy to many candidates in the last two years had not helped the Indian team.
"If they had allowed Virat Kohli to continue as captain, India would be 100 percent ready for the World Cup by this time."
