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[aryan]

MUMBAI: There were six World Cup-winning captains at an event organized by a cellular company to launch the 'Keep Cricket Clean' campaign at a city hotel on Wednesday.

Clive Lloyd, Kapil Dev, Allan Border, Arjuna Ranatunga, Steve Waugh...they were all there. But the man who attracted the maximum attention was Imran Khan.

That's because there's more to Imran than just the fact that he led and inspired Pakistan to their solitary World Cup triumph in 1992. The legendary all-rounder-turned-politician is considered the voice of cricket in Pakistan, if not the sub-continent. His fan base is still alive and kicking in India, which explains why this 58-year-old was the most sought-after personality here.

So who does he tip to win the Cup? "This could the most even, unpredictable World Cup ever. There are six teams who can beat anyone on a given day. Having said that, I think India stand the best chance. You have all-round strength in batting and bowling. The batting line-up, in fact, is great. The team is in good form, and it will play in home conditions," Imran told TOI in an exclusive chat.

But aren't there too many spinners in the team? And isn't the pace attack a bit thin? "No, I don't think there are too many tweakers in this squad. In Test cricket, you can't get away with this, but in One-day cricket you can do with bowling all-rounders. Ideally, you need one express pace bowler but India can do without it also. Zaheer Khan, I feel, is at the peak of his game right now. He has experience and ability," Imran reasoned.

He then offered an insight on how Sachin Tendulkar might be feeling on the cusp of what could be his last World Cup. "Let's put it this way -- having given so much to world cricket over the years, it will be great for Sachin to leave the game with the high of a World Cup triumph. India are the favourites, and Sachin is in good form, so there just couldn't be a better situation for him. I wasn't supposed to play in the 1992 World Cup, but ended up playing it because I thought that if we win, we would get some money for the cancer hospital I wanted to build in my mother's memory. But I remember how privileged I felt that my last game was the World Cup final."

Maybe the schedule, which has every team playing after six-day breaks, can upset India's rhythm. "I think those breaks will be welcomed by the cricketers, because in our times, we didn't have much time to recover between games, and that was tough on the fast bowlers. So this is a positive thing," he opined.

What about Pakistan? "I would say they are the wildcards." Clearly, somewhere in his heart, Imran roots for Pakistan. India would be happy, though, that his mind favours Dhoni & Co.