Gautam Gambhir Says It's High Time India Wins The Next World Cup ASAP

Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir might have been one of the chief architects of India’s World Cup win in 2011; however, he fails to understand the amount of hype and nostalgia behind it. The 2nd of April will see a decade since that occasion, with India winning their second ODI World Cup, beating Sri Lanka by four wickets at the Wankhede Stadium. But Gautam Gambhir urges the Indian team to chase its next World Cup.

The Indian team has not won an ICC title since the Champions Trophy in 2013, as they have often succumbed in the knockouts or finals several times since. The most recent 50-over World Cup, held in 2019, saw the men in blue crash out of the tournament after losing to New Zealand in the semi-finals. Despite being one of the favourites to win the competition and topping the group stage, one bad hour of cricket cost them.

Gautam Gambhir pointed out that it’s been a decade since India won the World Cup and he refuses to live too much in the past. Gambhir accepts that it was an immensely proud moment; however, the 39-year old reckons that the team must move forward to win the next World Cup as soon as possible.

“It doesn’t feel like yesterday. Not for me at least. It’s been what, 10 years now? I am not a person who looks back too much. Obviously, it’s a proud moment but you know what, it’s time for Indian cricket to move forward. Probably, now it’s time that we win the next World Cup ASAP,” Gambhir told PTI in an interview.

In 2011, we didn’t do anything that we weren’t meant to do: Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir further stated that no one should feel surprised of what India achieved in 2011 since they were supposed to win that tournament at home. Gambhir thinks that when the selectors picked the team, they went out there to win and not just compete. The retired cricketer acknowledged that it was a proud moment, but it’s time India moves on.

“In 2011, we didn’t do anything that we weren’t meant to do. When we were picked to play the World Cup, we were supposed to win the World Cup. When we were selected, we didn’t just go out there to compete, we went out there to win. There were no such emotions as far as I was concerned. We didn’t do anything extraordinary, yes we made the country proud, people were happy, it’s time to move on to the next World Cup,” he added.

Also Read: No Suresh Raina And Lasith Malinga As AB De Villiers Picks His All-Time IPL XI