The moment the Indian cricket team has been eagerly waiting for since their existence from last year’s World Cup is here – redemption when they take on Pakistan in the T20 World Cup in Australia. In fact, India are strong favorites along with hosts Australia and Sunil Gavaskar made a very interesting point before the tournament kicks off at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday. The former India captain reckons that if India do not win the World Cup, it will be a real surprise given the numerous preparations the team has gone through.
India entered the World Cup after winning back-to-back series at home against Australia and South Africa. After the series ended on October 4 in Indore, the Indian team immediately left for Australia to acclimatize to the conditions Down Under. In addition, they played two warm-up matches against Western Australia to warm up against the hosts.
“One thing is for sure. If the Indian team doesn’t win this T20 World Cup, it won’t be because of lack of preparation. Not only have they gone to Australia almost three weeks before their first match in the tournament, they are also playing practice games.” games against good teams that should prepare them for the tournament. The old adage ‘if you fail to prepare, prepare to fail’ will not apply to this Indian team as apart from these matches in Australia they have also played six T20 matches at home and they have won four of them to show that they are in good shape for the big event.” wrote Gavaskar in his column for Noon.
The legendary Indian batsman further mentioned that despite several major injury setbacks, the atmosphere around the Indian team is buoyant. After all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was ruled out earlier, the fact that their premier paceman Jasprit Bumrah also had to be ruled out due to a stress fracture in his back came as a big blow. Later, Deepak Chahar also suffered a similar fate before the BCCI officially named Mohammed Shami as Bumrah’s successor. But all this has not dampened spirits in the Indian camp, Gavaskar added, mentioning how India will be eager to end their wait for an ICC title.
“India’s performance in bilateral white-ball matches has always been good, be it at home or overseas, but it is in multilateral events where they have stumbled. In the past, it was because they entered the tournament cold. But that is not the case.” That is the case this time and that is why, with a great mix of youth and experience, there is optimism among Indian cricket fans that the trophy should return home. Yes, the other teams also played practice matches and that should keep them going. good position but there is a buzz about this Indian team despite the absence of Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja,” he said.
India captain Rohit Sharma on Wednesday stressed the importance of the team handling the pressure positively. The fact that India started their World Cup campaign against Pakistan won’t make things any easier as Rohit mentioned how India would have to do a lot of things right to win the World Cup. These include death bowling, team combinations, batting to name a few, but Gavaskar believes that with the crowd support in Australia and a great support staff at the helm, the Indians can feel at home.
“The T20 game can turn on its head when it comes to deliveries, so the best of teams can struggle, so it’s hard to call any team favourites. The host nation are also the defending champions, so of course they will have a bit of an advantage that familiarity with the conditions and the pitches gives everyone to the home team plus the support of the crowd. The Indian team is blessed to get support wherever they play and even overseas they have tremendous cheers from their fans. That can be pressure too but what is international sport where the best of one country is playing the best of the other and what else is it but pressure and more pressure,” said the former India captain.
