Two months in hand for the World Cup 2023 and Team India are yet to fix their squad. While India last won the world cup in 2011 under MS Dhoni, they failed to do well in the 2015 and 2019 World Cups. And, former Pakistan pacer Wasim Akram has cautioned them to be prepared for pressure as well.

“Of course… India have Mohammed Shami, who is very impressive and is bowling fantastically, but Bumrah needs to remain fit. I don’t know what his situation is in terms of fitness but if he is fine, it will make a huge different. Besides, they have really good spinners and all-rounders – Jadeja, Ashwin – let’s see who plays. There have been some really good players coming from India but there are certain disadvantages of home ground. In 2011, India won but there is always an extra added pressure. Same with Pakistan. If they were the hosts, the pressure would be on them. Vice-versa,” Akram said on Radio Haanji.

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However, Team India and Pakistan will embark on very contrasting campaigns at the World Cup. As per the initial schedule released by the ICC, Pakistan will be playing all their matches across four venues, whereas India will be travelling to 9 different cities to play as well. Initially, the PCB was reluctant with the schedule draft and asked for a couple of venues be changed, and even now, as Pakistan mull their World Cup participation and a revised schedule is awaited, Akram opined on how venues should be the least of their concerns.

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“See, I said this earlier as well. If I am asked to play on a certain date and at a certain venue, I have to play. Be it Ahmedabad, or Chennai, or Kolkata, or Mumbai… this does not affect players. So just play and don’t worry about it,” further added Wasim Akram.