"It's a must-win game for them," Gavaskar told the World Cup website. "If they don’t win tomorrow, it'll be very tough.
"The fact it's an old rivalry means it will be followed closely by the people of both countries, but Pakistan have had a bit of a stumble so far so there's probably a bit more pressure on them."
With the threat of rain looming large over Sunday's match in Manchester, Gavaskar said India will start as favourites to extend their six-match winning streak over Pakistan at 50-overs World Cups.
"If it's a proper 50-overs game I think India have the strength to win," he added.
"But if gets truncated, if it's a game that gets reduced to 30 overs or less, anything can happen."
(Reporting by Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
