Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh has said that every member of the Rohit Sharma-led team needs to move forward with the same motive if they want to win the upcoming ICC World Cup 2023 at home.
India will be hosting the ODI World Cup for the first time as a solo host and the national team will hope to end their drought of an ICC trophy which has lasted for a decade now. India last won an ICC trophy in 2013, when the MS Dhoni-led side won the ICC Champions Trophy in England.
Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh has said that India needs to play in big tournaments as a team to increase their chances of winning the World Cup.
He further added that though India has a handful of big-name players to lead the side, the rest of the players need to show the ability to absorb pressure in big games and make a comeback from precarious positions.
“I don't know, it's very difficult for me to say what we had and they don't. We played till the semi-finals in 2015 and 2019, but the ICC trophy didn't come. Maybe the ability to punch back after absorbing the pressure has probably been seen in only one or two players. You need to play big tournaments as a team,” said Harbhajan on News24 Sports.
He further added that all the players need to have the same motive and work on it together if the team wants to win the biggest tournaments in cricket. India will begin their World Cup 2023 with a crunch encounter against Australia on October 8.
“You have Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Hardik Pandya - they are big players but along with these three players, the rest of the eight to ten players, and the team management, everyone has to walk together with the same motive.
The small-small things like saving a single or a brilliant run-out, all those are also huge things. So when the team plays as a unit, they can produce bigger results and that is what probably our team did better. Maybe they are much better than our team talent-wise,” Harbhajan added.
Currently, Indian team is on a tour of the West Indies, where they won the first Test by an innings and 141 runs. The second Test will begin on July 20th in Trinidad. The two teams will then clash in three ODIs and five T20Is.
