Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly believes that hosts India will be joined in the final four of the ODI World Cup by strong Australia, reigning champions England, and runners-up New Zealand. The Rohit Sharma-led side will begin their World Cup campaign against Australia on October 8th in Chennai.
India won the title of Asia Cup for the eighth time defeating the home side Sri Lanka in a dominating fashion followed by a 2-1 series victory against high-quality Australia on home soil ahead of the all-important ODI World Cup in India.
Meanwhile, the team would be riding high on confidence after ticking all their boxes ahead of the marquee event in India.
Speaking to India Today, Sourav Ganguly backs Rohit Sharma to lead the Indian team to the third ODI World Cup title given his experience in leading the two Asia Cup titles and five IPL titles during his tenure as captain in various tournaments.
“Very good captain. He has won the Asia Cup two times and has also won 5 IPLs. Outstanding captain. I think this will be his last World Cup as a captain. I hope he will win the trophy and finish successfully,” Sourav Ganguly said
It’s worth noting that home teams have won the World Cup since the 2011 edition. India won the World Cup in 2011 as hosts, while Australia tasted glory in 2015 while hosting the tournament. Then, in 2019, England continued the trend and won their first ODI World Cup tournament at home.
I Am Looking Forward To Watching Shubman Gill – Sourav Ganguly
Sourav Ganguly said that he is looking forward to seeing young Indian batting sensation Shubman Gill play in the forthcoming ODI World Cup in India. He also believes that speedster Jasprit Bumrah will play a pivotal role for the Men in Blue in the forthcoming marquee event.
“Many good players were there. But I am looking forward to watching Shubman Gill. He has played brilliantly. Jasprit Bumrah is also playing very well,” Sourav Ganguly added.
Shubman Gill maintained his strong performance in 2023 by surpassing the 1100-run mark in ODIs for the year.
In the Asia Cup 2023, Gill’s performance was outstanding where he proved his batting prowess by leading the Asia Cup batting charts with a total of 302 runs, including a hundred, and would look to put fine show in the forthcoming ODI World Cup in India.
