India will look to win a major ICC trophy once again as they prepare for the ODI World Cup that is set to be held in October 2027 in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. This will be an important tournament, as India will look to win their third title and secure a trophy that they narrowly missed out on in 2023. However, the future of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, and whether they will play in the tournament now that they have retired from the other formats of the international game, has been the question. Amidst this, India's hero of the 2011 ODI World Cup win, Yuvraj Singh, has sent a strong message.
Speaking to Cricinfo, Yuvraj Singh said that India needs to build a consistent team and not make too many changes in the ODI setup. It is important that from now till the World Cup next year, the team plays the same 16 to 20 players, because there are only a limited number of ODIs that the team will play up until the mega tournament.
"They need to focus on building the same team to play in a year's time, because you don't want to make big changes at the last moment," Yuvraj Singh said.
"Whoever your players are, whether they are 16 or 20, it's important that everybody gets game time because obviously now there are more T20S and less 50-over cricket. Whatever matches there are, it's important that players get enough game time to prepare for the World Cup," he added.
Yuvraj Singh pointed out that every time India has faltered is because they have made massive changes at the last moment before a big tournament. Hence, it is important to keep consistency in selection.
{{/usCountry}}Yuvraj Singh pointed out that every time India has faltered is because they have made massive changes at the last moment before a big tournament. Hence, it is important to keep consistency in selection.
{{/usCountry}}"Every time India has faltered is when they've made some massive changes at the last moment or in the tournament. So I think it's important that we stick to a team that we believe can lift the 2027 World Cup and stick by those guys whether they fail or succeed till that moment. Belief in the squad is very important," Yuvraj further said.
'Something we have done in the last two T20 World Cups'
Yuvraj Singh also wanted India to take a leaf out of their two back-to-back T20 World Cup triumphs in 2024 and 2026, where they groomed a particular set of players for these specific tournaments. He also wanted India to first focus on qualifying for the semi-finals of the ODI World Cup 2027, and then winning the final two games.
"That's something that we have also done in the last two T20 World Cups," Yuvraj said. "We also played the 50-over World Cup final [in 2023]. So we have had a lot of consistency in white-ball cricket. And that's what they need to do as well, to think of first qualifying for the semis and then going on to play in the last two [knockout matches]. I think that's a long way ahead. Focus should be on getting a squad ready, which is together and ready to fight in any situation," the star former all-rounder further went on to say.