BCCI President Sourav Ganguly shared his views on Team India’s failure to make it into the semi-finals of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 and also predicted who between Australia and New Zealand will become the title winners in the final, which will be played on November 14, 2021, in Dubai.
Both New Zealand and Australia defeated title favorites in England and Pakistan respectively in the semi-finals to set up a summit finale. Both the Aaron Finch-led side and Kane Williamson’s men have not yet won the T20 World Cup and the fans will see a new champion in Dubai.
Ganguly backed New Zealand to win the T20 World Cup 2021, given their recent form, and listed two reasons for picking the Black Caps as winners over the Kangaroos.
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“I feel it is New Zealand's time in world sport. Australia are a great nation, but they have had a tough time for a while, though they have been a great cricketing country. New Zealand has a lot more guts and character than we see on TV. They won the World Test Championship a few months ago. It’s a small country but it's got a lot of steel. I have the feeling that it is indeed New Zealand’s time,” remarked Ganguly during a book-signing ceremony at the 40th Sharjah International Book Fair on Saturday.
On the other hand, India’s campaign virtually ended after they lost the first of their two matches in Group 2 of the Super 12s stage to Pakistan and New Zealand. Though India managed to register huge wins in their remaining three matches, New Zealand defeating Afghanistan in their league match, was the final nail in India’s hopes of a semi-final qualification.
Ganguly said he was happy to see that despite the disappointment people accepted the outcome of India’s failure to make it into the semis, despite being tournament favorites.
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“Expectations were undoubtedly very high, but I was happy to see that a majority of the people had the heart to accept the result. They were upset, but they did not overreact. At the end of the day, (Jasprit) Bumrah, (Mohammad) Shami, Rohit (Sharma) and (Virat) Kohli are all human beings,” said the BCCI president.
Furthermore, Ganguly backed the same unit to become champions in a year’s time when the T20 World Cup 2022 happens in Australia.
“That’s 40 overs of bad cricket. They will bounce back and within a year or so we will see the same boys lifting trophies,” he added.
(Hindustan Times inputs)
