Veteran wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik has shown faith in the Indian team which is flying high at the ongoing ICC ODI World Cup on home soil. Though the hosts still have a match to play in the league stage, they have already sealed their spot in the semi-finals.
India are sure to finish at the top of the table and the Men in Blue will feature in the first semi-final, scheduled for November 15.
Follow all the action from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 including the World Cup schedule, World Cup 2023 results, and ICC Cricket World Cup points table. Players are vying to top the World Cup 2023 Most Runs and World Cup 2023 Most Wickets charts.
Ahead of India’s game against the Netherlands, Karthik has branded Rohit Sharma and Co. as the best ODI team in the world, with the ICC team rankings supporting his statement.
Karthik, however, mainly focused on India’s performance in this World Cup.
According to him, no Indian squad could ever perform at this level in the ODI World Cups.
India have yet to endure a defeat in this edition. They not only won all of their eight games but also demonstrated their quality on each occasion.
There were times when the Indian unit had found themselves in a crunch situation. But someone from the squad had stepped up to soak in the pressure and come up with something special to counter the turbulence.
Referring to the same, Karthik said, “I’m going out on a limb to say this but this Indian team is probably the strongest team that India has ever had in ODIs, in World Cups for sure. You have to pit it against other Indian teams which have done very well but it will run other teams very close to it being the greatest ODI team ever in terms of performance and pressure.”
Karthik, who is currently performing commentary duties in the ongoing competition, further spoke about India’s possible game plan for the semi-finals.
As per the present scenario of the points table, it seems like the hosts will square off against New Zealand, a team which knocked them out of the 2019 World Cup from the same stage.
India will be the favourites this time, thanks to the familiar home conditions and the crowd support. Pakistan and Afghanistan, however, are still in the knockout race even though they have to produce massive victory-margin to do so.
If both Asian sides finish with 10 points, the net run rate will have the final say.
Whoever the opponent is, Karthik feels India should take their decision by considering the nature of the surface at Mumbai’s Wankhede.
He thinks the ball will swing a lot during the initial few overs so Rohit must chalk out the plans accordingly.
Karthik also speculated that India won’t make any changes to their playing eleven in the semi-finals.
“It’s in Mumbai, the first big decision, if they win the toss, will be if they bat first or bowl first because there will be dew but then they will have to get past that first spell. In the first 10 overs, the ball swings and moves. It’s going to be the same XI as every player has ticked the box,” Karthik explained.
Before going into the semi-finals, India will play the Netherlands on November 12 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Comments
0 comment