Sunil Gavaskar fires fresh warning before India's 'inconsequential' WC match vs Netherlands: ‘You want to be champions’
Sunil Gavaskar fired a fresh warning in the build-up to India's 'inconsequential' match against the Netherlands at the ODI World Cup.
Virat Kohli's record-equalling century followed by a memorable five-wicket haul sealed Team India's comfortable win over South Africa at the One Day International (ODI) World Cup on Sunday. Extending their unbeaten run to eight matches at the ICC World Cup 2023, Rohit Sharma and Co. secured the top spot in the round-robin phase of the tournament. With India all set to enter the semi-final stage of the 50-over spectacle, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar reflected on India's impressive campaign in the league phase.
Batting legend Gavaskar is convinced that Rohit's Team India is the best side at ICC World Cup. Under Rohit's leadership, two-time champions India have defeated Australia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, New Zealand, England, Sri Lanka and South Africa in the round-robin phase of the ICC tournament. Rohit and Co. hammered second-placed South Africa by 243 runs to retain the top spot on the World Cup points table.
Gavaskar on India's ‘inconsequential’ match
“You want to be the champions, you want to make sure that you win big. You want to show that you are the best team in the competition by a long distance, and that's exactly what the Indian team is doing at the moment. There is a match against the Netherlands which might be inconsequential because India is only now number one. But they don't want to stumble anywhere once it comes to the knock-out stages,” Gavaskar told Star Sports.
How Kohli-starrer India thrashed South Africa
Becoming the joint-highest century-maker in the 50-over format, Kohli equalled Sachin Tendulkar's record tally of 49 tons at the Eden Gardens. Kohli's unbeaten 101 off 121 balls guided India to 326-5 in 50 overs. Celebrating his 35th birthday on matchday 37 of the World Cup, Kohli even outscored the entire South African side as the Proteas folded for 83 in 27.1 overs. India will next meet the Netherlands in its final round-robin fixture of the World Cup 2023 at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday.
There is no next day if you have a ‘bad day’
“The whole temperament, your whole mental attitude towards the match will change because in the group stage you always think, Oh, there's another match to come. But there is no next day if you have a bad day in the in the knockouts. So you want to get into that winning rhythm. You want to get into that winning mentality, and that's what the Indian team is doing,” Gavaskar added.
Remember what happened in 2019 World Cup?
Unbeaten India can retain its perfect record with a win over the Netherlands. In the 2019 edition of the World Cup, India only suffered a defeat at the hands of eventual winners England in the league phase. With Kohli at the helm, India also topped the World Cup standings in 2019. However, India were upstaged by New Zealand in the rain-marred semi-final at Old Trafford. After India's exit in 2019, Kohli asserted that 45 minutes of bad cricket put India out of the 2019 World Cup.