With less than two months remaining for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, the experts have started sharing their opinions on the participant teams.
Since India will host the showpiece tournament from October 5 to November 19, the Rohit Sharma-led side is considered firm favourites to lift the coveted trophy at home.
However, former India cricketer Yuvraj Singh believes a captain is only as good as a team, pointing out that Rohit needs a good team to lift the World Cup.
India’s last ODI World Cup triumph came in 2011 when MS Dhoni and his men clinched the title playing on home soil.
“Rohit Sharma is a good captain, but you will have to give a good team to him. MS Dhoni was a good captain too, but he had a good team with experienced players,” Yuvraj told Indranil Basu.
In 2011, India had the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh in their ranks. All these players had the experience of playing in multiple World Cups.
While the Men in Blue have seasoned campaigners like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in their ranks currently, they are sweating over the fitness of quite a few key players like Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer.
Moreover, wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant won’t be able to feature in the World Cup as he is still recovering from the injuries sustained in a car crash last year.
During the recently held ODI series in West Indies, Rohit decided to bench himself alongside Virat Kohli to give chances to younger players like Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson.
According to Yuvraj, Rohit has developed into a good leader and handles pressure situations well.
“I think Rohit has become a very good leader because he has led Mumbai Indians in IPL for such a long time. And he is a very sensible guy under pressure. You need to give a good team to a sensible captain who is experienced as well. MS Dhoni was a good captain, but he also got a good team right?”
It's been a decade since Team India last won an ICC tournament. After MS Dhoni led the side to a Champions Trophy triumph in 2013, India have lost as many as four ICC event finals and bowed out in the semi-finals on numerous occasions.
It remains to be seen if Rohit and his men manage to end the ICC trophy drought later this year. India are slated to open their World Cup 2023 campaign against Australia in Chennai on October 8.
