I don’t think this is by far India’s strongest team ever – Sunil Gavaskar on World Cup squad

Legendary Sunil Gavaskar doesn’t believe that India’s current World Cup squad is the strongest ever. Gavaskar reckons the 2011 World Cup team, which went on to win the coveted trophy, was the strongest in history.

India will enter the World Cup as one of the biggest favorites and the Rohit Sharma-led will also look to make the most of their home conditions. Team India recently won the Asia Cup for the eighth time and they also defeated Australia in a three-match ODI series by 2-1.

In fact, India has won six out of their last eight matches and they will want to carry the winning impetus in the upcoming ODI showpiece.

Sunil Gavaskar said on Star Sports, “I don’t think this is by far India’s stronger team ever the one in 2011 that won the title are the strongest Indian sides in history.”

Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma had failed to make it to the 2011 World Cup squad but he was able to turn the tables in ODIs after he was made to open the innings in the 2013 Champions Trophy by MS Dhoni. Currently, Rohit is one of the best batters in the ODI format and scored five centuries in the 2019 World Cup.

Gavaskar added Rohit Sharma will want to lead from the front and replicate MS Dhoni and Kapil Dev’s success.

“There are times when you fail to find a place in the team, and you need to work hard after that,” he said. “Rohit Sharma did the same, and he was ultimately rewarded. He would want to replicate what Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni did in the past. He will want to lift that World Cup trophy on November 19th and delight all the Indian fans.”

Meanwhile, India’s warm-up matches were washed out due to rain. However, Gavaskar added warm-up matches hold little value and feels the series win against Australia would have added confidence to India’s bag.

“I am not interested in warm-up matches. All 15 members of the squad get a chance in warm-up matches. However, there were just 11 players on the field during India’s series against Australia. It was mandatory to win there. Everything is counted in the record. Whereas in warm-ups, even if you score a century, it isn’t counted in your record. India would have gained a lot of confidence from their series win over Australia.”

India will begin their World Cup campaign against Australia at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on 8th October.