Fleming expects India to beat Pakistan
Former New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming believes that Virat Kohli-led India will have an edge over arch-rivals Pakistan when the two neighbours face off in their Champions Trophy opener in Birmingham today.
"India have quality players with experience, whereas Pakistan are probably on the way up. Pakistan are a very talented side, but they are unpredictable," Fleming, who is an 'ESPNcricinfo Match Day' expert panellist, told PTI in an interaction.
"Pakistan are a little inconsistent given the young nature of their side and that's where India have an edge. India are more settled and played together a lot," he added.
Fleming said India were one of the favourites to the lift the Champions Trophy.
"India are one of the favourites. There are four teams in particular which stand out for me. They are England, South Africa, Australia and India. They are definitely in the top bracket," said former left-handed batsman.
But when asked to predict the two finalists, Fleming said it would be "England versus South Africa" final.
Heaping praise on the Indian players, Fleming said: "I watched these players recently in the Indian Premier League. (Jasprit) Bumrah and Hardik Pandya in particular are outstanding players. They have also got great experience in senior players like Shikhar Dhawan, (Virat) Kohli, (MS) Dhoni, (Ravichandra) Ashwin and (Ravindra) Jadeja. You have got players all the way through, even Rohit Sharma," he said.
According to the Kiwi legend, defending champions India have a more experience side this time around than what they were when they lifted the Trophy in 2013.
Fleming, who is the coach of Rising Pune Supergiant in IPL and has worked closely with Ajinkya Rahane, termed the Indian middle order batsman a "technically sound".