World Cup: Pakistan should be cautious against Starc, says Raja

Pakistan former captain turned cricket commentator Ramiz Raja has urged his side to be careful especially against Aussie speedster Mitchell Starc as the two sides meet at the ICC World Cup 2019 match tomorrow at Taunton.

“Pakistan batting line should not give away their wickets against Starc, even if we need to lower down our strike rate we should do it because it will get recovered in the later overs. However, if Strac is able to take wickets then it will kill the rhythm of the batting line,” he said.

The former captain further said that the Pakistani batting line should play cautiously in the first 10-overs of the game and try not to lose wickets against the likes of Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins. “If we are able to survive that initial burst, then it would highly advantageous for us as the rest of the Australian bowling line could be tamed.”

Giving out the strategies Raja said that Pakistan should aim to attack the defending champions mentally. “Pakistan needs to be mentally strong, because Australia is one of the most mentally strong side, and if Pakistan is able to hit them their then they would be able to beat them,” said Ramiz Raja.

Squads

Australia: Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson, Pat Cummins, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Adam Zampa, Nathan Lyon

Pakistan: Sarfaraz Ahmed (c, wk), Asif Ali, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Imam-ul-Haq, Shadab Khan, Shoaib Malik, Wahab Riaz, Haris Sohail, Imad Wasim, Fakhar Zaman