Former India opener Virender Sehwag narrated a fascinating story from India's triumphant 2011 World Cup-winning campaign, involving MS Dhoni.

Sehwag revealed that Dhoni, who led the Indian team in that edition of the World Cup, only ate Khichdi as a superstition.

Sehwag shared the anecdotes while speaking on Star Sports after the ODI World Cup 2023 schedule announcement, citing that Dhoni's form with the bat wasn't the best for most part of the tournament but he continued with the superstition as India were winning their matches.

"Everyone was having some or the other superstition, and everyone was following theirs. MS Dhoni had a superstition of having 'khichdi' all through the World Cup," Sehwag stated.

"He used to say that even if I'm not scoring runs but this superstition is working, and we're winning matches," he added.

The 2023 World Cup will kick-off on October 5 with the England versus New Zealand clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

A total of 10 teams will participate in the 50-over World Cup, with eight already qualified for the quadrennial event – including the host India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, England, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

The race for the remaining two spots is ongoing in Zimbabwe in ICC Men’s ODI World Cup Qualifiers, where the top teams will fill those positions.

Apart from former champions Sri Lanka and the West Indies, the Qualifiers also feature Ireland, Nepal, Netherlands, Oman, Scotland, UAE, USA, alongside hosts Zimbabwe.

The World Cup matches will be played in 10 venues – Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Dharamsala, Delhi, Chennai, Lucknow, Pune, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Kolkata.

Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram in addition to Hyderabad will host the warm-up matches from September 29 to October 3.