As India’s World Cup 2007 campaign began on Saturday, there is one thing that is weighing on the minds of Indian cricketers apart from performance — the reaction back home in case the team fails to live up to the expectations. President of the BCCI and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said today in Baramati that he had spoken to the Indian cricketers and to captain Rahul Dravid over the phone and the players had expressed their apprehension about reaction back home if they failed.

“Today (Saturday) I did not speak with the captain but I am regularly in touch with him. The team morale is high, the mood is high and the team spirit is excellent. But, there is one problem and that is you (media),” Pawar told members of the media here.

“The players told me that their families back home have been telling them that every television channel shows at least two-hours of cricket. The hype in India is such that somewhere havans are going on, somewhere boys and girls have taken procession to the temple; at some other places someone is fasting so that our cricket team performs well,” Pawar said. “The team will try to win and will definitely win but it’s a game of chance. If something happens (India failing to live up to the expectation) we don’t know how everybody will react,” he said, reflecting the apprehensions of Team India.