The International Cricket Council (ICC) recently released the schedule for the Men’s Cricket ODI World Cup 2023, featuring 48 matches to be played over a span of 46 days. The tournament will kick off with a match between defending champions England and runner-up New Zealand on October 5 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Hosts India will begin their campaign against Australia on October 8, and one of the most highly anticipated matches of the tournament, the clash between India and Pakistan, is scheduled to be held on October 15 in Ahmedabad.
Pakistan, on the other hand, will start their campaign against a Qualifier 1 team in their opening match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad on October 6.
As the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 is still a few months away, fans and experts have already started speculating about potential favourites for the tournament. Pakistan pace great Wasim Akram has also joined the bandwagon as he opined that his former side has enough quality to be a major player at this year’s mega event .
Speaking on the ICC Review, Akram, who played a crucial role in Pakistan’s victorious campaign in the 1992 ODI World Cup, stated that Pakistan’s familiarity with Indian pitches, which are similar to those in Pakistan, could work in their favour. He emphasized the importance of the team’s key players remaining fit and in form for Pakistan to have a strong chance of clinching their second ODI World Cup title.
“We have a good side…a very good one-day side and are led by one of the modern-day greats in Babar Azam. As long as they are fit and as long as they play according to the plan, they will have a chance of doing well in that World Cup because it is played in our type of conditions in India on the sub-continent,” the former Pakistan captain said to the ICC.
The Lahore-born believed that Babar Azam needs to be the best version of himself, as the whole country follows him and believes that he brings the fans to the stadium across all three formats of the game and hailed his cover drive shot as the beautiful shot in cricket.
“I think he can (get better) as he is the best player we have. The whole country follows him, everything he does. He gets people into the stadium and it doesn’t matter whether it is T20, one-dayers or Test cricket and, in my opinion, he has the most beautiful cover drive in the world,” the 57-year-old added.
Notably, Pakistan failed to reach the semis of the 2019 World Cup despite winning five out of nine matches due to an inferior net run rate as they finished fifth in the points table.