AUCKLAND - Former Pakistani speedster Aaqib Javed has appealed to New Zealand's cricket selectors to finalise their core group for the 2015 World Cup at the earliest and persist with them.
"The good teams always pick their best bunch of 16 to 18 players. This is the peak time for New Zealand to pick their best 18 players and stick with them and back them. In my playing and coaching experience, belief is the most important part and clarity of mind as a player and team management," Javed, who was a part of the 1992 World Cup winning side, was quoted as saying by Stuff.co.nz.
Javed is here as the coach of United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the World Cup qualifying tournament, where 10 teams are vying for the last two spots in the World Cup. Javed, who has also been an assistant and bowling coach of Pakistan, is against experimenting too much with just an year left for the tournament and said consistency was vital. Javed said he has been closely following New Zealand's progress and is impressed with the potential of the squad.
"It's good to see pace (with their bowling) and aggression in their batting. In the coming World Cup, if you look at the New Zealand team and how they are progressing, there can be the same performance to what they did in 1992," he said.
Javed also remained hopeful about Pakistan's prospects. The only thing that worries him is the lack of experienced batsmen except Misbah-ul-Haq and Younus Khan. "They need to work on their batting. If they can fix that a bit, I think they could have a good chance," he said.