(Image source: X.com)
[Saba Sports News] Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir did not mince his words as he commented on the ICC rankings.
Gambhir believes that ICC rankings don’t hold as much significance as beating Australia in the World Cup. The southpaw, in the Star Sports Special show ‘Mission World Cup’, stated that “I have always said this, and there is no doubt in this, that if you want to win the World Cup, then you have to beat Australia. In 2007 when we won the World Cup, we defeated Australia in the semifinal. In 2011 when we won the World Cup, we beat Australia in the quarterfinal. Australia is the strongest team in any ICC tournament. Remove the ranking, the ranking does not matter.”
Furthermore, Gambhir acknowledged that the Australian team has players who can perform exceptionally on any given day, especially in big tournaments like the World Cup. He also opined that India’s most crucial match in the upcoming World Cup would be against the Australian side.
“You can be in any position in the rankings, but Australia, when it comes to those big tournaments, the World Cups, I think Australia has got the players, they have got the self-belief, Australia has the ability to play those big moments really well. I believe that if we have to win the World Cup this year, Australia is going to be the most important game, and we start against Australia, so there is nothing better than that. So beating Australia is very, very important,” he added.
India’s first match in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 is scheduled against Australia on the 8th of October and is to be played at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium.