As the 13th edition of the ODI World Cup gets set to kick-off at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday (October 5), all the ten captains were gathered together for a press conference in Ahmedabad on Wednesday (October 4). Unsurprisingly, captain of Team India and Pakistan were most favourites amongst the journalists asking questions in the press conference.
Former India coach Ravi Shastri also asked a few questions to each and every skipper available at the event. He also asked Pakistan captain about the Hyderabad reception and it’s world famous ‘biryani’. Babar hilariously looked fed-up with the ‘Biryani’ question as he said that he has already answered that question a 100 times.
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Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has asserted that the ‘Men in Blue,’ who are riding high on confidence and are one of the favourites, will give their everything in the World Cup. Even though the Indian team is entering on the back of a hot run in the ODI format, being the host will likely bring the much-needed luck factor to them as well.
In the past 13 years, the host nation has lifted the World Cup and it all started in 2011 when the Indian team led by MS Dhoni bagged the decorated accolade in style.
“Not thinking too much about on that stuff but yeah in last 3 editions hosting teams won the World Cups and we will give our everything in this World Cup and enjoy the tournament,” Rohit said in the World Cup 2023 Captain’s Day event.
“People are going to love this tournament. The stadiums will be jam-packed. Indians love their cricket. It is going to be a great tournament,” Rohit added. (Cricket World Cup 2023: South Africa Captain Temba Bavuma Falls Asleep At Captains’ Day Meet, Pic Goes Viral)
He went on to talk about India’s lack of preparation time due to both warm-up games being washed out without a single bowl being bowled. However, Rohit said they are aware of their current position since they have played a decent amount of ODI cricket before the tournament.
“Not really. We were happy to get those days off. Looking at heat, and stuff like that. We have been playing a lot of cricket of late. We played 4 games in the Asia Cup and 3 against Australia. We know where we are at. I would’ve loved to play those two games. But can’t do too much when the weather is like that apart from one part of India to the other part. Overall, happy about how we are coming into the tournament and the guys are looking pretty good,” Rohit added. (Cricket World Cup 2023: Pakistan Pacer Naseem Shah Undergoes Successful Shoulder Surgery, Says, ‘Dua Mein Yaad Rakhna’ – Watch)
The experienced skipper also talked about what it means to be a leader and the responsibilities that come along with the title and said, “I had to work on a lot of things. To be a leader, you need to understand your teammates, their strengths and weaknesses and give them the freedom to go out and play. Our job is to make sure we lay that platform for them and then it’s their job to go and do what they do best.”
India will open their World Cup campaign against Australia at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Sunday. The first game of the World Cup 2023 will be played between England and New Zealand, two teams who competed for the title in 2019 final.
