IND vs AUS: 'India Cannot Win World Cup If...': Gautam Gambhir's Big Challenge For Rohit And Co. Ahead Of The Start Of IND-AUS T20I Series

Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir has challenged the Indian side to put on a solid performance and defeat defending T20 World Cup champions Australia in the forthcoming three-match T20I series.

Gambhir asserts that if India loses to Australia, they will not be able to win the T20 World Cup.

In a three-match T20I series, the Indian men’s cricket team will take on the reigning T20 World Cup champions, Australia, under the direction of Rohit Sharma. The first game of the series will be played on September 20 in Mohali, followed by games two and three on September 23 and 25 in Nagpur and Hyderabad, respectively. As the reigning T20 World Cup champions, India has a lot riding on the outcome of the series with Australia.

India enters this series after an unexpected performance in the just-finished Asia Cup T20 tournament when they were unable to advance past the semifinals for the first time since the 2014 edition. India will have the chance to test themselves against a strong team in the upcoming matches against the Aaron Finch-led squad, and a successful outcome will also boost the team’s spirits before the start of the T20 World Cup, which is scheduled to take place in Australia this year from October 16 to November 13.

Australia is one of the most competitive teams: Gautam Gambhir

India’s recent performance has not been great, so they will be under pressure to deliver, and so, ahead of the series, former Indian opening batter Gautam Gambhir has questioned the team to perform well and beat the Aussies by saying that if India can not beat Australia in this series, they will not win the T20 World Cup.

“I have said this earlier and I am saying this again. India cannot win the (T20) World Cup if they do not beat Australia,” Gautam Gambhir said during the press conference organized by Star Sports.

“I mean, look at the 2007 T20 World Cup. We defeated them in the semi-finals. In the 2011 ODI World Cup, we thrashed them in the quarter-finals. Australia is one of the most competitive teams out there and you will have to beat them if you want to win any competition,” Gautam Gambhir said.

India will also need to live up to its status as the world’s top T20I team if Australia begins the forthcoming bilateral series as the T20 World Cup champions.

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