“Don’t think about the final at the start of the tournament” - Sourav Ganguly’s advice to India ahead of World Cup 2023

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has advised the Men in Blue to not think about reaching the World Cup final at the start of the tournament and instead focus on one game at a time.

India will host the upcoming ODI World Cup, which will be played from October 5 to November 19. The Men in Blue won the ODI World Cup when it was co-hosted by India in 2011. However, they have not won an ICC event in any format since 2013.

They lost the summit clash of the 2014 T20 World Cup as well as the final of the 2021 and 2023 World Test Championship (WTC). Speaking of ODIs, they lost the semi-final of the 2015 and the 2019 World Cup. In an interview on Revsportz’s show Backstage with Boria, Ganguly urged Team India to take it one game at a time and not put undue pressure on themselves.

“You won’t win all finals. But then you need to make it to the final first. First you need to play well and win the majority of the nine games to be able to make the final. 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. For the World Cup, it is the same," he said.

India will begin their 2023 World Cup campaign by taking on Australia in Chennai on October 8.

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“Messi was under tremendous pressure to deliver, he did” - Ganguly on dealing with pressure in World Cups

While sharing his thoughts on India’s chances in the 2023 ODI World Cup, Ganguly opined that the players who handle the pressure well on the big stage come out on top.

Giving the example of star footballer Lionel Messi, he said:

“Take the last football World Cup final. Messi was under tremendous pressure to deliver. He did. And that’s why he is the greatest. He led Argentina to a World Cup win. France too played superbly well and Mbappe played like a champion under pressure."

Team India have won the ODI World Cup twice - 1983 and 2011. They also lifted the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007. The Men in Blue won the Champions Trophy in 2013, their last win in an ICC event.