"When in doubt, step out!" - Wasim Jaffer gives crucial advice to Team India ahead of 2023 World Cup opener against Australia

Former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer has sent his best wishes to the Men in Blue as they begin their pursuit of the 2023 World Cup title with their opening encounter against Australia in Chennai on Sunday, October 8.

Jaffer believes their Achilles Heel over the years, especially in the knockout stages of ICC tournaments, has been their rather timid approach. He has urged the players to counter attack this time whenever they face a crunch situation. Jaffer is hoping that the team won't play within themselves when their backs are against the wall.

Here's what Wasim Jaffer posted on X:

"Team India start their campaign today. My wish from team India is when under pressure, they shouldn't go on the defensive but back their strength and counter punch. When in doubt, step out! Good luck boys 👊🏽 🇮🇳 #INDvAUS #CWC2023"

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India haven't won an ICC Trophy for a decade

The growing frustration among the fans is understandable as the Men in Blue last won an ICC Trophy back in 2013 with the Champions Trophy triumph under MS Dhoni.

They have made their presence felt in almost every ICC tournament in the past decade, making it at least to the semifinals apart from the 2021 T20 World Cup. However, they have just been outplayed in those crunch moments and that's something they will want to work on this time.

It will certainly not be a cakewalk with a number of teams gunning for a place in the semifinals. However, in home conditions, Rohit Sharma and co. have got the 'favorites' tag and it will be interesting to see how they deal with it.

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2023 World Cup Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan (wk), Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami.