Wasim Akram: “One team will win, one team will lose, so stay graceful and do not take this as a war”

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Legendary left-arm seamer Wasim Akram has called on India and Pakistan fans to be “graceful” and not treat their teams’ World Cup clash on Sunday as a war.

Pakistan will play India in Manchester, and the men in green will be looking to snap their winless streak against their arch-rivals as India have triumphed in their six World Cup meetings to date.

However, Pakistan can take confidence from the fact that they demolished India by 180 runs in the Champions Trophy final in 2017.

[interaction id=”5ca8b046f28192795e1c58f5″]

“This can t be bigger,” Wasim told AFP as quoted by The News International. “India and Pakistan playing at the World Cup with over a billion [people watching] is the biggest thing in cricket, so my message to both sets of fans is to enjoy it and stay calm.

“One team will win, one team will lose, so stay graceful and do not take this as a war. Those who project this match as a war are not true cricket fans.”

[interaction id=”5c1d9088e5245c5b0b264d12″]