Afridi believes Pakistan can break India jinx

Pakistan's scoreline against India in World Cups is 5-0 and this has been well-documented. In the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, Pakistan get ready to face India for the sixth time and the clash on February 15 in Adelaide promises to be a tense affair. However, Pakistan allrounder Shahid Afridi believes the team is not disheartened by their poor record against India in the World Cup. "There is always a first time. I know it is a crunch game for both the teams and fans from all over the world are coming to see it. The hotels have been booked months in advance.There is so much hype and the expectations of the fans are enormous. However, we have the confidence and the ability to surprise any team on give day. But, both the teams know how to handle pressure. On our part, we plan to treat it as just another game. However, being the first game in World Cup, both will be desperate to start with a win, so that they can take the momentum and confidence into the remainder of the tournament," he said just before the start of the warm-up game against Bangladesh at the Blacktown Oval in Sydney. Afridi expressed hope that the two teams play each other more often in ODIs and not just in major ICC tournaments. "We have not played each other often enough. I hope we get to play against each other even outside the World Cup," he said. Afridi is closing in on a unique double of 8000 runs and 400 ODI wickets and his bowling workload is all set to increase following the absence of Mohammad Hafeez due to injury and Saeed Ajmal due to problems with his bowling. The 35-year-old has announced that he will retire from ODIs after the end of the World Cup and he wants to go out on a high. He said the side would want to emulate the efforts of the 1992 World Cup winning team. However, it will not be easy considering that the current squad is plagued with injuries. "The 1992 team was a combination of seniors and youngsters. This team has got some talented youngsters as well and we're expecting a lot from them," he said.