Sourav Ganguly, a former India captain, selects World Cup semi-final contenders. “I will pick 5 and include Pakistan also.” Now that Sri Lanka and the Netherlands have qualified for the ODI World Cup in 2023, the top 10 teams have been selected.
This year’s Cricket World Cup, which is in its 13th year, will take place in India from October 5 to November 19. It will be the first time that India alone will be hosting the Men’s Cricket World Cup. In 1987, 1996, and 2011, India co-hosted the event with other nations in the Indian subcontinent.
The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad is where the championship game will take place. The semi-finals will be held in Mumbai and Kolkata during this time. The hosts, who have recently disappointed in ICC events, will be the centre of attention. After making it to the summit match for the second consecutive year, they recently lost to Australia in the WTC final.
Sourav Ganguly, a former BCCI president and the current captain of India, named five teams that he believes have a possibility of progressing to the semi-finals of the championship match. It’s really difficult to predict which teams will advance to the semifinals, he remarked.
“India, England, and Australia. In these important encounters, New Zealand should never be taken lightly. Pakistan will also be included in my list of five. Pakistan must succeed in order for us to host the India-Pakistan semi final at the Eden Gardens,” he continued.
The most captivating encounter of the World Cup is already set to take place on October 15 when India take on Pakistan in the league round.
In response to questions about India’s difficulties in knockout games at ICC competitions, Ganguly said, “We occasionally don’t perform well, in important moments. It’s all about execution, not mental strain, in my opinion. They have a good mental capacity. I’m hoping they’ll cross it soon. At least we made it to the World Team Championship finals, which is a success. Yes, we do stand a chance. We have a large number of talented players. Hopefully, this time, we’ll succeed.
There will always be pressure. There was pressure, much like when they previously played. The most recent ODI World Cup saw five hundreds from Rohit Sharma. There must have been pressure on him back then, I’m certain. There is no issue with pressure. They will succeed, I have no doubt. There was pressure on Rahul Dravid to perform when he was a player, and there is expectation on him to produce now that he is the head coach. I don’t think pressure is a problem, and that won’t go away either,” he continued.
