Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt has warned India and Pakistan ahead of the 2023 ODI World Cup, scheduled to begin on October 5. Butt cited the example of Australia's team of the 2000s and affirmed that both the Men in Blue and Men in Green are not on the same level. Butt called the Australian team of the 2000s the 'dream unit' while claiming India and Pakistan are far from being dream units.
"There's no chance to make experiments now. Neither of these sides are Australia of the 2000s who can do anything under the sun and still win. They would field new players and win the match, they would play old winners and still win. Both sides aren't like that team, and they know it,” Butt said on his YouTube channel.
"Their (India and Pakistan) competition is against teams who can be a threat on their days. Australia were miles ahead of any side. Even if they had lost five batters early, they could've still scored 275-300 runs in an innings. It was a dream unit. India and Pakistan aren't dream units," he added.
India last won the ODI World Cup in 2011 under MS Dhoni's captaincy. Reflecting on the time, Butt said that Dhoni's team had the luxury of some of the best batters while the current Indian side tend to struggle against a quality bowling attack if Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli failed to perform.
"India's batting was great under Dhoni. Right now, they have to put up a show; if Rohit or Kohli doesn't score big runs, it becomes hard for them against a good bowling lineup. And Pakistan, on their day, can be a very tough bowling side," Butt said.
India and Pakistan will square off on October 14 at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad. The World Cup clash between the two arch-rivals promises to be an intriguing fixture as India's famed batting line-up will once again be pitted against Pakistan's potent bowling attack.
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