Deep Dasgupta, former India wicket-keeper believes that such is the strength of the Indian team that if the World Cup was to place tomorrow, the Indian cricket team would still remain one of the favourites to win it although the ICC event is still two years away.
With the 2023 World Cup scheduled to take place on Indian soil, the Men in Blue will undoubtedly start as favourites to lift the coveted prize.
Deep Dasgupta: India Is In Very Good Position As Far As ODIs Are Concerned
With India recently celebrating 10 years of their 2011 Cricket World Cup win, the sights are already set on the year 2023, when the World Cup returns to India after 12 years.
“I think India are in a very good position as far as ODIs are concerned, they will be in the top 3. Also, the heartening thing is the way the youngsters delivered. They are pushing people who are incumbent.
“For example, Shikhar, someone like Padikkal, Shaw scoring those runs in Vijay Hazare Trophy. You already have Mayank (Agarwal), KL (Rahul). There is healthy competition there. It augurs well for Indian cricket,” Deep Dasgupta told India Today.
“Also, the World Cup is going to happen in 2023 November, even if the World Cup is going to happen tomorrow, India is still one of the favourites to win it. In 2023, things will only get better.”
India remained unbeaten in the 2015 World Cup under MS Dhoni before losing to Australia in the semi-final by 95 runs. Four years later, under the leadership of Virat Kohli, India topped the group table of the 2019 World Cup but was eliminated following an 18-run defeat to New Zealand in the semi-final.
Devdutt Padikkal aggregated 737 runs (avg 147.40), finishing only behind the 827 runs Prithvi Shaw scored in Mumbai’s win in Vijay Hazare Trophy and are waiting in the wings but were ignored for selection in England ODIs.
Deep Dasgupta: India Should Play The Way They Know To Play
India is coming off a three-ODI series against England, which turned out to be a run-fest, with five out of six innings producing 300-plus totals. Due to England’s fearless approach in batting, many believe India should follow the same pattern, but Dasgupta reckons India is doing just fine following their own methods.
“I think India should play the way India knows to play. There is this tendency just because England plays in a certain manner, going hard at the top because they also have the resources. But we don’t necessarily have to follow that,” Deep Dasgupta said.
“The players we have, like Shikhar, Rohit and Virat, their strike rate would be around 80 but by the time they play 30-40 balls, their strike would be 120. So it is not necessary, do you have to follow,” Deep Dasgupta said.
Prasidh Krishna, Suryakumar Yadav, and Krunal Pandya were the new faces in the India ODI squad for the series against England.
Suryakumar Yadav made his debut in the recently concluded T20I series against England which India won 3-2 after beating the visitors by eight runs in the fifth T20I. The right-handed swashbuckling batsman played three games and hit 57 and 32 in the fourth and final game respectively. In the second T20I, the debutant did not get a chance to bat.
Prasidh Krishna picked up four wickets conceding 54 runs in the first ODI-his maiden outing in international cricket against England, playing a crucial role in India’s 66-run victory in Pune. He returned with figures of 2/58 in the 2nd ODI which came in a lost cause. Krunal Pandya struck a fifty which was the fastest on ODI debut while Suryakumar Yadav didn’t get a game despite his heroics in the T20I series.
Krunal Pandya averaged 95 in the ODI series amassing 95 runs in 3 matches while Prasidh Krishna took 6 scalps averaging 29.