John Hastings believes Pakistan can make it to the Champions Trophy knock-outs

Australian paceman John Hastings reckons a new-look Pakistan team have a good chance of making it to the semi-finals in the ICC Champions Trophy. Pakistan go into the tournament ranked no. 8 and are yet to make their first appearance in a Champions Trophy final.

31-year old Hastings also said that Pakistan have a strong side, and their clash against arch-rivals India will be a mouth-watering contest. Defending champions India will kick-off their Champions Trophy campaign against Pakistan on June 4 at Edgbaston.

When asked about Pakistan’s chances in the 2017 edition of the Champions Trophy, John Hastings said in an exclusive interview with geo.tv, “Pakistan is a very good young group, they have got a very good attack, have got some good left-arm options, some good spin options and they have got some powerful top order batsmen. I think they’ll be right up there in the group as well.”

“India and Pakistan are two very good teams. Since they don’t play each other a lot, it would be a very good clash and a pretty good spectacle to watch,” he added on the much-awaited India-Pakistan encounter.

Meanwhile, Hastings said his own team Australia were well prepared for the mega-event, but mentioned that the current world champions will have to play their best cricket in order to come out on top of the 8 best teams in the world.

England a threat: John Hastings

John Hastings also considered hosts England as worthy opponents for Australia in the group stages. Given that England will be playing in their own backyard, Hastings mentioned that it will play as an added advantage to Eoin Morgan’s boys.

“The English team has been very good for the last few months and in home conditions, they have played really well against South Africa in the last few games. In the last few innings, they batted first and have scored big runs. They are a dangerous outfit. We will have to play our best to beat them,” John Hastings said.

Australia take on their neighbors New Zealand in their opening game of the Champions Trophy on June 2. They are pooled with hosts England, New Zealand and Bangladesh in Group A.