Gautam Gambhir, the former Indian opening batter and a crucial member of India’s triumphant 2011 Men's ODI World Cup-winning squad, has underscored the immense importance of India's opening clash with Australia in the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.
According to Gambhir, if the Rohit Sharma-led Indian cricket team aspires to secure the coveted trophy after 12 years, their showdown against Australia will be the pivotal moment of their campaign in the upcoming ODI World Cup 2023, starting on October 5, 2023.
In a highly anticipated 13th edition of the Men's ODI World Cup, the champions of the 1983 and 2011 editions, Team India, will kick off their journey by facing the five-time champions, Australia, on October 8 at the iconic MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Notably, this tournament marks a historic occasion, as it is the first time that India is entirely hosting the Men's ODI World Cup. Meanwhile, Gambhir said that if the Indian team managed to defeat the “strongest team” Australia in the upcoming World Cup 2023, then nobody could stop Rohit Sharma from lifting the trophy.
Gautam Gambhir said on Star Sports: “Look, I have always said this, and there is no doubt in this, that if you want to win the World Cup, then you have to beat Australia. In 2007 when we won the World Cup, we defeated Australia in the semifinal. In 2011 when we won the World Cup, we beat Australia in the quarterfinal.”
The 2011 World Cup winner added, “Australia is the strongest team in any ICC tournament. Remove the ranking, ranking does not matter. You can be in any position in the rankings, but Australia, when it comes to those big tournaments, the World Cups, I think Australia has got the players, they have got the self-belief, Australia has the ability to play those big moments really well.”
Gambhir signed off by saying, “And you can see this, the three World Cups that India won, we had to beat Australia in the knockout stage two times. And the World Cups that we have lost, in 2015 we lost to Australia. So, I believe that if we have to win the World Cup this year, Australia is going to be the most important game, and we start against Australia, so there is nothing better than that. So beating Australia is very, very important.”
(With Star Sports Inputs)
