Ex-Pakistan captain warns high-flying India of knockouts at 2023 ODI World Cup

India are the only unbeaten side in ODI World Cup 2023 and have won all eight matches so far. India’s last competitive match is against the Netherlands.

New Delhi: Former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq warned the high-flying Indian team in the ODI World Cup 2023 ahead of the knockout stages and also gave other teams a ‘golden chance’ to upset the mighty Men in Blue. Host nation India is already in the semi-finals with eight wins from as many matches and will certainly end up at the top of the rankings. South Africa is the other team that joined India in the last four.

Misbah opined that India might enjoy their home advantage but warned that as the tournament comes to an end, there will be a lot of expectations on captain Rohit Sharma and his men.
“One thing has been confirmed. Yes, this is the group stage, fine, but when they go into the knockout stage, the more a team continues to play well and becomes the favourite, the more pressure there is,” Misbah told a Pakistani television channel after India. defeated South Africa by 243 runs on Sunday.

“And once a team puts them under pressure in 1-2 overs, they will have a lot to lose. There is still an outside opportunity for other teams,” the former cricketer added. Meanwhile, Misbah’s former teammate and former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik also opined that Australia is likely to give India a hard time.

“I see Australia will make it difficult for them,” said Malik, a fact Misbah agreed with. While India and South Africa have already qualified for the semi-finals, Australia are third in line to clinch their last four spot. Australia are currently third with 10 points from seven matches.