Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has given his take on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s future after the 2023 ODI World Cup. Kohli and Rohit have been the backbone of the Indian batting unit for the past decade and the upcoming ODI WC will be crucial for their legacy in cricket. Young Virat was part of the 2011 WC-winning Indian team but Rohit wasn’t able to make the cut for that squad. In the 2023 showpiece event, India will rely heavily on the senior duo to score big to lift the coveted trophy for the third time.
India won the World Cup last time in 2011, while they added the last ICC trophy to their cabinet in 2013 with the Champions Trophy. The Men in Blue have failed to get past the knockout hurdle in recent times when it comes to the ICC tournament. They lost the final of the 2017 Champions Trophy, semifinal of 2019 World Cup, 2022 T20 WC, 2021 and 2023 World Test Championship Finals. Several fans and critics have labelled India as the new ‘chokers’ in world cricket.
Ganguly said that he believes in performances and suggested that with ICC tournaments scheduled for every year, Kohli and Rohit will play longer for India.
“I don’t believe too much in last time, first time. I believe in performances. I think they are 34-35, I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next World Cup. There are world tournaments every year – T20 cricket, 50-over cricket. It’s not like as in the past when we started – one every four years and then the Champions Trophy came in. So it’s about performances and I am sure Rohit as captain and Virat will be wanting to make it a big one not from a personal point of view but from winning it. I think that’s the biggest,” Ganguly told Star Sports.
India will begin their 2023 ODI WC campaign against five-time world Champions Australia on October 8 in Chennai before taking on Afghanistan on October 11 in Delhi. While the marquee India vs Pakistan clash will take pace on October 15 at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
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