"Pakistan will not be under as much pressure as India" - Harbhajan Singh on the arch-rivals' World Cup clash in Ahmedabad

Harbhajan Singh feels India will be under more pressure than Pakistan in the World Cup 2023 clash between the two sides.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the schedule of the quadrennial 50-over tournament on Tuesday, June 27. The Men in Blue will play their league phase game against their western neighbors at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on October 15.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Harbhajan was asked about his thoughts on the India-Pakistan clash, to which he responded:

"It will be a very high-pressure game. Pakistan will not be under as much pressure as India because India will be playing in India. So to handle and absorb that pressure and to win from there and bring a smile to everyone's faces will be a huge thing."

India have never lost to Pakistan in an ODI World Cup game. The Men in Blue defeated their arch-rivals in the quarter-final and semi-final of the 1996 and 2011 World Cups respectively, the only times they have played them at home in the 50-over global event.

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"There cannot be anything bigger than that" - Harbhajan Singh on the India-Pakistan World Cup clash

India defeated Pakistan by 29 runs in the 2011 World Cup semi-final.

Recalling the India-Pakistan 2011 World Cup semi-final, Harbhajan Singh highlighted the significance of the game:

"There cannot be anything bigger than that - India vs Pakistan. I remember the game, if I talk about 2011, according to me that semi-final was a semi-final by name, it was the final game."

The 2011 World Cup-winning player pointed out that all Indians expect a win in that crunch game:

"The pressure of that match, the expectations in that game from your relatives to entire India and wherever Indians are sitting, you just have to do one thing for them, and that is to win the match."

Harbhajan added that MS Dhoni and Co. didn't feel as much pressure in the final against Sri Lanka as they did in the last-four clash against Pakistan:

"How you absorb that pressure when you go to the ground, what all things you need to do right, it matters a lot. In my opinion, the final was over when we played the semi-final before the final because when we played the final against Sri Lanka, we didn't feel any big pressure in that match."

Harbhajan was one of India's star performers in the semi-final win against Pakistan. The off-spinner returned figures of 2/43 in his 10 overs, with Umar Akmal and Shahid Afridi, who were both threatening to take the game away from India, being his victims.