- Sunil Gavaskar lashes out at Pakistani, Australian cricket experts for criticizing India’s ICC World Cup 2023 squad.
- Gavaskar says India is not afraid to play Pakistan.
- Gavaskar advises foreign experts to focus on their matters.
Sunil Gavaskar, the renowned Indian cricketer, expressed his displeasure regarding comments made by Pakistani and Australian cricket experts regarding India’s ICC World Cup 2023 squad.
Gavaskar took issue with the remarks made by Najam Sethi, the former chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Management Committee, who suggested that India was hesitant to face Pakistan on the cricket field.
Furthermore, Gavaskar advised foreign experts to focus on their matters when it comes to the selection of India’s national cricket team.
“If you see the statements that come out from their side…sadly our media gives them the prominence. We have Pakistan players, and Australian players selecting the Indian team. How is it their concern? Do any Indian players go and select the Australian or the Pakistan team? It’s none of our business. But we allow that,” Sunil Gavaskar said on Sports Today.
“From there it’s always Babar is better than Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma; Shaheen Afridi is better than so and so. Inzamam-ul-haq is better than Sachin Tendulkar. For them, they are always better than us. That is the way they have to cater to their audience.
“Don’t give them space in your papers. You have a South Africa saying a player should be in your team. You have an Australian saying. It happens too often. They say who should bat at no. 3 or no. 4. C’mon, we don’t need your advice.”
India squad for ICC World Cup 2023:
Rohit Sharma, serving as the captain, will lead the Indian cricket squad for the upcoming ICC World Cup 2023. The team roster includes notable players such as Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, and Mohammed Siraj.
It’s important to highlight that this tournament will feature ten competing teams, and matches will be spread across ten different venues. The event kicks off at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad with the opening match and concludes with the final.
Regarding the match schedule, day matches are set to commence at 10:00 AM Pakistan Standard Time (PST), while all other fixtures will be day-night affairs starting at 01:30 PM (PST).
The Cricket World Cup will adopt a round-robin format, with every team facing each other, leading to a total of 45 league matches. The top four teams from this stage will advance to the semifinals, scheduled to take place in Mumbai on November 15 and in Kolkata on November 16. It’s worth noting that reserve days have been allocated for the semi-finals and the final matches.
