India's overconfidence may let them down: Shoaib Akhtar

Adelaide: Former Pakistan paceman Shoaib Akhtar feels that having never lost to Pakistan in a cricket World Cup, India could lose tomorrow's opening encounter against their arch-rivals due to overconfidence. 

"While Pakistan has never beaten India in a World Cup, the Indian team may be done in this time for being overconfident. If Pakistan can setup a big target, it could be difficult for India to chase it down with Pakistan's bowling attack," said Akhtar. A lot has been talked about India's dominance over Pakistan in a World Cup. A recent TV advertisement on a Pakistani fan, waiting with a box of crackers, for a Pakistan win since 1992, has drawn huge reactions across the border.

Even Pakistan spinner, Saeed Ajmal, who could not make it to their World Cup squad, has claimed a 5-1 overall for India Pakistan this time around. Akhtar, 39, though did praise the Indian batting for it's maturity. "India have a good batting attack and Pakistani batting line up needs to put up a mature show to win this. Pakistan batsmen do not possess that maturity yet, and their batsmen are unable to build big innings like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli of India, who convert their 50's into 100's and big scores," the 'Rawalpindi Express' said.

Talking about Pakistan's team balance, Akhtar, who represented Pakistan in 47 Tests and 163 ODIs between 1997 and 2011, said, "Haris Sohail should come one down instead of Younis, followed by Misbah and Umar Akmal. The ODI format is overwhelming for him now and he seems to slow the team down."