The Indian team is ready for World Cup, says former speedster Zaheer Khan

Former India pacer Zaheer Khan thinks the Indian team is ready for the ICC World Cup due to be held in England from May 30. India will play their first match against South Africa at Rose Bowl in Southampton on June 5. The Men in Blue will be in the hunt for their third world title after 1983 and 2011 and going by their recent form, the Virat Kohli-led side is considered one of the favourites to win the championship this time.

Zaheer who has played in three World Cups (2003-2011) also praised India’s pace bowling unit that has done exceedingly well in recent times and played a crucial role in registering some significant wins abroad.

“Playing conditions are something that comes into place when you visit the country for the first time. This lot of players we are talking about has played enough cricket to not be bothered by it. The bowlers have been familiar with different conditions and they have produced good performances too,” Zaheer, who has over 610 international wickets across all formats, was quoted as saying by Mail Today.

The former cricketer said the Indian side has enough glimpses of their strength in the recent past and the forthcoming series against Australia will be another challenge for them to relish. “Overall, I think we are ready,” the 40-year-old added. India are currently ranked second in the ICC’s ODI listing and along with hosts England, they are considered among the hot favourites this time.

India’s fast bowlers have done great

Zaheer Khan also said that India’s fast bowlers have been superb and the fact that Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have to wait for their turns to play shows the depth India have in their bowling line-up. They will be playing nine matches in the tournament where the top four point-getters in the round-robin league will qualify for the semi-finals.

India’s game against arch-rivals Pakistan at Old Trafford on June 16 though has come under questioning in the wake of a dastardly terror attack on CRPF personnel in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir and it remains to be seen if they will boycott the game.

[interaction id=”5c6fcf893f568f1aca3bf91a”]

Get the latest Cricket News and updates, Match Predictions, Fantasy Cricket Tips and lots more on CricTracker.com.