ICC World Cup 2019: Shoaib Akhtar predicts the winner of the India-Australia clash

Australia has started the 2019 edition of the World Cup on a stupendous note. After defeating Afghanistan, the Aaron Finch-led unit rolled over the Windies as well at the Trent Bridge in Nottingham. The Men in Yellow are next set to lock horns with India on Sunday, June 9 at the Kennington Oval in London. Virat Kohli’s men also did exceptionally in their opening match against South Africa.

The Indians managed to emerge victorious by six wickets at the Rose Bowl in Southampton. As far as India’s record versus the Aussies in the World Cup is concerned, they have only won three out of 11 times. In fact, in their last seven meetings, India came out trumps only once. Last time, the teams met in the semi-final of the 2015 World Cup and the Australians won the match by 95 runs.

India’s victories came in 1983, 1987 and 2011 respectively. In the meantime, Shoaib Akhtar, the former Pakistan cricketer, has put forth his favourites for the all-important clash. Moreover, he also wants Mohammed Shami to be in the eleven owing to his pace. He also thinks that if Rohit Sharma plays for a chunk of the innings, then India will have the platform from where they can launch.

India has more ammunition when it comes to swing

“India has a far better chance not because of I am just saying but I think the balance of the bowling lies with India. They have spinners, they have good fast bowlers,” Rohit was quoted as saying in a video on his official YouTube channel.

“I want Shami to be in. I want the pace to be in. At the same time, I think Indian batters, the first four batters, whenever they get runs the history tells us they win matches. Rohit Sharma goes deep down to the order and he gets runs and Indian team gets a proper platform. At the same time, him, Virat Kohli and others make a big score.”

“India has more ammunition when it comes to swing when it comes to bowling when it comes to taking up the pressure. So, I think the pressure isn’t going to be on Indians tomorrow, it is going to be on Australians. I think India is going into this match as favourites because they have superior spinners than the Australians and with Shami’s addition they will become unbeatable,” he added.

Here is the Shoaib’s video