The top two teams in each group advance to the last 32, joined by the eight best third-placed teams.

Norris is locked in a three-way scrap for the 2025 drivers' crown with Red Bull's Max Verstappen and his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri.

Despite trumping Akram, Starc described the Pakistan great as the "pinnacle".

Speaking to reporters at a ceremony for the start of the relay in the Italian capital, Andrea Varnier said: "there is a lot of finishing to do around the venues.

It was more than two years since India won the toss in a one-day match.