Former pace bowler Aaqib Javed has slammed Pakistan's defensive approach at the World Cup, warning the team of an early exit from the tournament if they did not change their approach.

Aaqib, who played a pivotal role in Pakistan winning the 1992 World Cup and is currently the head coach of UAE, expressed great bemusement at the way Misbah-ul-Haq's side had prepared for the big event.

"Pakistan invested in one bunch of players before the World Cup and took a completely different team to the tournament," Aaqib told BBC in an interview.

The 42-year-old Aaqib, who played 22 Tests and 163 ODIs for Pakistan, said he was particularly surprised at the decision to omit wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed from the playing XI in the first two matches of the World Cup.

According to him, Sarfraz was good enough to start for any team at the World Cup.

"Through his performances in the last couple of series, he had finally resolved Pakistan's longstanding issue of finding a good wicketkeeper batsman. But his confidence would have been badly shaken by the treatment meted out to him," Aaqib said, adding that there was no room for the out-of-form Younis Khan in the team.

He was also of the view that the current Pakistan team lacked leaders and was afraid of losing.

In a thinly-veiled jab at coach Waqar Younis, Aaqib said such a job was the domain of professionals.

"You need to be a professional coach to manage a team. You cannot be commentating one day and decide the next to become a coach."

Pakistan has lost its two pool games against India and the West Indies, and plays Zimbabwe next on Sunday.

Pakistan's sorry World Cup campaign so far was further jolted on Tuesday when chief selector Moin Khan was ordered to return home immediately and explain his visit to a casino before the team's 150-run loss against the West Indies in the World Cup.