World Cup 2023: Ravi Shastri, a former cricketer and the former head coach of the Indian cricket team, is renowned for his profound understanding of the game of cricket. In a video clip released by Star Sports on Twitter, Shastri, standing alongside other cricket experts, articulates a compelling reason why India is well-positioned to secure victory in the current edition of the ODI World Cup.
World Cup 2023
When queried about the primary factor behind his belief in India’s World Cup triumph, Shastri asserts, “Because they are playing on their home turf, they’ve exhibited exceptional cricketing prowess. They unquestionably begin as the frontrunners, but the true test commences when you secure a place in the top four.”
Shastri also recollects his own participation in the Indian squad led by Kapil Dev, which clinched their inaugural ODI World Cup title in 1983. This historic victory took place at Lord’s in London, where they prevailed over the reigning champions, West Indies.
India commenced their 2023 World Cup campaign on a victorious note by defeating Australia in yesterday’s match at Chepauk Stadium, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
In the opening match, Australia won the toss and elected to bat first. Despite their initial confidence in setting a challenging target, India’s formidable bowling attack restricted the Australians to a total of 199 runs.
However, during India’s batting innings, the game appeared to be slipping away as they lost their first three key wickets (Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, and Shreyas Iyer) in quick succession for just two runs. Nevertheless, a resilient partnership between Virat Kohli and KL Rahul enabled the team to secure a victory by six wickets.
With this win, India not only marked their first victory in the tournament but also saw Virat Kohli break a special record by taking the most catches (16) by an Indian player in the ODI World Cup.
India is now preparing for their second match against Afghanistan, scheduled for October 11th at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
India’s squad for the tournament includes: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, and Suryakumar Yadav.
Afghanistan’s squad comprises: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman, and Naveen ul Haq.
