New Delhi, Oct 14 (IANS): West Indies cricket pace legend Michael Holding Tuesday lauded India's latest effort to revive football in the country through the launch of the Indian Super League (ISL) saying that he was pleasantly surprised to see such huge turnouts in the first few matches of the inaugural competition in a "cricket-loving" country.

"It is a great initiative. It is pleasant to see that there is a good fan following of football in the country. India is a cricket loving nation, but I didn't expect to see such huge turnout for the games," said the former West Indies pacer on the sidelines of the Delhi Dynamos vs FC Pune City match at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium here.

He also resisted from picking any early favourites for the 2015 cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand pointing to the unpredictable nature of One-Day cricket for his refusal.

"The World Cup is an open race. The 50-over format of the game is very unpredictable. Anyone can win the World Cup. It's an open race," said the 60-year-old former cricketer who was nicknamed "Whispering Death" in his heyday.