Shahid Afridi: “I see Pakistan as one of the teams in the semi-finals and, God willing, I’m confident they’ll play the final too”

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

Former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi sees no reason why the national team can’t reach the semi-finals or even the final at the World Cup.

Pakistan have struggled in ODIs this year as they were beaten 3-2 by South Africa and whitewashed 5-0 by Australia in the United Arab Emirates.

In their most recent ODI series against England, they lost 4-0.

Despite this, Afridi believes that if Pakistan win their first few World Cup matches, they could go on and qualify for the semi-finals, upon where they could reach the final.

“It’s very important to win the first couple of matches to build momentum … Our youngsters are capable of beating any team in the world,” he was quoted as saying by Reuters.

“I see Pakistan as one of the teams in the semi-finals and, God willing, I’m confident they’ll play the final too.”

Pakistan will play two World Cup warm-up games against Afghanistan and Bangladesh in Bristol and Cardiff on May 24 and 26 respectively.

They will then begin their World Cup campaign against the West Indies in Nottingham on May 31.

[interaction id=”5c1d9088e5245c5b0b264d12″]