Team India vice-captain Hardik Pandya wants to play a fearless brand of cricket in the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023 on home soil. Rohit Sharma-led side will take on five-time champions Australia in their World Cup opener on October 8th in Chennai.
The major reason for India’s failure in the 2022 T20 World Cup was due to the conservative approach of the Men in Blue in the shorter format of the game. The Men in Blue modified their approach in the white-ball format, playing aggressively and without concern for the outcome of the bilateral series.
With he team played a positive brand of cricket in the continental event which helped India to win their 8th Asia Cup title in Sri Lanka.
Speaking on ICC ahead of India’s opening encounter against Australia, Hardik Pandya believes that they must play a high-risk brand of cricket in the World Cup. He also thinks that the Men in Blue have world-class batters and bowlers who can make a difference in the crunch moment of the games.
“It is exciting with a lot of expectations, but at the same time, we are going to get a lot of love and support and cheers which is going to get the best out of us. We have got some world-class batters and world-class bowlers. We just need to come together, play fearless, take the pressure and expectation to our advantage, and continue what we have done,” Hardik Pandya said.
Team India promised under Rohit Sharma to play an aggressive brand of cricket after losing in the first round of the 2021 T20 World Cup but has been inconsistent in the mega events crumbling under pressure and the Men in Blue will be desperate to end their ICC title drought on their home soil.
We Are Confident This Year We Will Be Able To – Hardik Pandya
Hardik Pandya continued by saying that India has been the top-ranked team in white-ball cricket for a while and feels that they are certain that this will be the year for them to win the marquee event after winning it in 1983 and 2011.
“We have been No.1 (ranked side) for quite some time in recent years and it means definitely we have done really well and we just need to turn that moment into World Cups and we are confident this year we will be able to,” Hardik Pandya added.
India became the top-ranked side in the ODI format after dominating the Asia Cup 2023 followed by two comfortable wins against Australia in the home series. They were previously ranked first in Tests and T20 Internationals and they will take a lot of confidence being the No.1 ranked team in ODI cricket walking into the marquee event on home soil.