Last Update on: August 31st, 2023 at 03:00 pm
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Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly has advised Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid to not think too far ahead regarding the ICC World Cup 2023. The India captain and the head coach will be under immense pressure in the upcoming competition. The tournament taking place in India has only increased the expectations from the team.
A lot was expected from Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma when they replaced Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli as the head coach and captain respectively a couple of years ago. However, they have failed to live up to the expectations thus far. Under Shastri and Kohli, India did well in bilateral series but failed to win the ICC competitions such as the 2019 World Cup, the World Test Championship final and the T20 World Cup in 2021.
But the story has not changed much under Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid. During their tenure, India have already failed to win the Asia Cup, the T20 World Cup and the WTC final. The performance in the bilateral series has not been very impressive either.
Sourav Ganguly’s advice for Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid
As Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid gear up for their first ODI World Cup as a captain and coach respectively, Sourav Ganguly was recently asked about Team India’s failure to win the finals. In reply, the former captain advised the duo to focus on reaching the final first instead of worrying about the poor track record in the final.
“You won’t win all finals. But then you need to make it to the final first. So you need to break things down. First you need to play well and win the majority of the nine games to be able to make the final,” Sourav Ganguly told RevSportz.
“Don’t think about the final at the start of the tournament. It is much like batting. When you go into bat don’t think of the 100. Get to 50, 60, 70 and then when you get to 90 that’s when you think of the 100. For the World Cup, it is the same. First, play well and get to the final. Once you are there that’s when you plan for the final and try and win it,” he added.
Team India are currently in Sri Lanka for the ongoing Asia Cup. They will launch their campaign in the tournament on Saturday (September 2) against Pakistan. As far as the World Cup is concerned, it is scheduled to start on October 5.