Revenue generated by India helps young domestic cricketers in Pakistan: Shoaib Akhtar

India is all set to host a 50-over World Cup exclusively for the first time. The showpiece event will begin with a repeat of last edition's final between England and New Zealand and this intriguing clash will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Shoaib Akhtar, who is regarded as one of the fastest bowlers to have played the sport, stated that excessive pressure from the Indian media on the 'Men in Blue' is one of the major reasons behind some of their losses and not the lack of talent. According to the 48-year-old, the more pressure India feels, the easier it gets for their opponents to beat them.

"Most of the time, India doesn't lose because they are lacking talent. India loses because of the pressure that it gets from their own media. They get stuck over there. 'Our sponsorship will die, our money is stuck' and a lot of other things are said that build excessive pressure on the media. I would like to tell the Indian media and you [Boria Majumdar] as well to be a bit more considerate towards the Indian team. You all build so much pressure, why do you do it? How do you do it? We know very well because we are insiders but ultimately, it is the wrong thing to do when you're mounting pressure on team India," Shoaib said during a chat with Boria Majumdar on RevSportz.

"Last year I was in Dubai, I was doing a show with the Indian local channels. They painted everything blue, they bought all the stadium, and they were talking about only one thing, 'Team India, you are going to crush Pakistan'. Who builds this much pressure? When you make us [Pakistan] the underdog, the pressure is not on us. What we are gonna do now? 'Hey listen, guys, we got nothing to lose. Just go out there and win.'"

Don't see a future for ODI cricket: Shoaib Akhtar

Shoaib feared that the upcoming ODI World Cup could be the last of its kind as he doesn't see a future for 50-over cricket. The former Pakistani pacer hoped India would earn substantial revenue from the World Cup. Shoaib dropped a bombshell when he stated that part of the revenue that India generates for the International Cricket Council (ICC), reaches Pakistan and helps in paying fees to young domestic cricketers in the country.

"I hope it's [ODI World Cup 2023] not going to be the last one as I don't see a future for 50-over cricket. This is gonna be the most beautiful and most amazing World Cup where India should make tons of money. I strongly believe India should make tons of revenue out of this World Cup. I am in this favour because not many people will tell you that the revenue that goes to the ICC from India, a portion of it comes to Pakistan and it helps in paying fees to the young domestic cricketers."