'Our team in 2007 ODI World Cup was best in the world. Even better than 2003 and 2011': Sehwag's colossal remark

Virender Sehwag made a massive remark as he recalled the side's disastrous campaign at the 2007 ODI World Cup, where India was ousted in the group stage.

Team India has two major opportunities at winning an ICC trophy his year; while the World Test Championship final (against Australia) takes place later this month, India will host the ODI World Cup in October-November. India had last won the World Cup in 2011 under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni; since then, the side faced successive semi-final defeats in 2015 and 2019. Since the turn of the decade, India have been relatively consistent in the fifty-over World Cups; while the side's 2011 win remains its only triumph, India has reached knock-outs in all editions bar one.

Team India players during 2007 World Cup(Getty)

The 2007 World Cup was rather forgettable for the Indian team, as it faced a group stage exit after defeats to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Former India opener Virender Sehwag has now revisited the disastrous World Cup campaign for India, which was met with widespread public furore back home; the fans also went to the extent of burning effigies of Indian players as protest against their poor performances.

Sehwag stated that the Indian team in the 2007 edition was the “best” in the world at the time, which is why it hurt more than the final defeat in 2003. In 2007, the side was led by Rahul Dravid and had some of the Indian cricket stalwarts in the squad, including Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, and Anil Kumble, among others.

“2007 hurt more. Our team in 2007 was the best team in the world at the time. On paper, you won't find a better team than that, even before or after. In 2003, we lost the final, in 2011, we won, but we didn't have such big names ever. We lost 2 matches, won 1 and that too against Bermuda,” Sehwag told Gaurav Kapur on Breakfast with Champions.

“Everyone thought we would reach the next round. We had a 2-day break after the league stage. We lost, we didn't have tickets. We had to stay two days extra at Trinidad and Tobago without any practice. In those two days, I didn't ask for room service or housekeeping, I didn't even step out of the room. With the help of a relative in the US, I arranged for Prison Break and finished three seasons of the show during that time,” the former India opener further said.

Sehwag was part of the team that won the World Cup in 2011.