India are set to begin their World Cup 2023 campaign against Australia in Chennai today as the overwhelming favourites to go the distance in the tournament and former India fielding coach R Sridhar believes that India have the best talent available in prime form heading into the quadrennial event.
“It is India’s World Cup to lose and India has been extremely well prepared. I think well primed is the right word I would use for the Indian team ahead of the World Cup,” Sridhar told News18 CricketNext in an exclusive chat in Hyderabad.
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It was not long ago that India looked a bit brittle in preparation for the World Cup 2023 with a host of injury concerns leading to uncertainties over certain roles and personnel, but Sridhar insisted that the way the team was managed in the last two helped the management to have back-ups ready.
In the absence of KL Rahul, who was out recovering, Ishan Kishan filled in and made more than a strong case for inclusion in the playing XI, while in Jasprit Bumrah’s absence, Mohammad Siraj stepped up to the plate and he heads into the tournament on the back of record-setting spell in the Asia Cup 2023 final.
“A lot of credit has to go to the BCCI and the Indian cricket team management,” said Sridhar, adding, “Rahul Dravid and his team of coaches and support staff, along with Captain Rohit Sharma, NCA, and the rest of the support staff who just managed the team in such a way over the last couple of years, so they have the best talent available in prime form for the World Cup.”
Sridhar has been part of many World Cup campaigns for India and when quizzed about any added pressure the players might feel because this is going to be a home World Cup, the former Hyderabad cricketer sounded confident saying the player knows how to handle pressure.
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This could most likely be the last 50-over World Cup appearance for the likes of Rohit, Virat, Ashwin and Sridhar’s advice to the senior pros is to embrace the pressure of the World Cup.
“It [playing a Home World Cup] means a lot, despite many of them having played more than three World Cups. Ash [Ashwin] and Virat have been part of our Home World Cup already, so they know what it is to be a part of our Home World Cup.”
Invoking the 2011 campaign, Sridhar mentioned that the wealth of experience that the team had helped them to deal with the pressure better, but he did add that the current team also is very adept at doing the same. The key though he said is to enjoy the home World Cup, rather be bogged down by it.
“In 2011, that team had a lot of experience as well. They had Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan. There was so much wealth of experience and they knew how to embrace the pressure. The reason I’m saying embrace the pressure is because this team also has to embrace the pressure. They need to enjoy the pressure. Yes, it’s a Home World Cup, which means a lot of positives like knowing the conditions, knowing the crowd, and knowing everything about what is going to be thrown at you. I’m sure all these boys are equipped to do that. Many of them are playing in the Second World Cup. A lot of them are playing in the Third World Cup. But that’s the key, how well they embrace the pressure.
Sridhar, currently running the Coaching Beyond Academy in Hyderabad, did concede that the amount of travel the Indian team will be doing during the league stages could be a disadvantage.
“There’s a lot of travel for the Indian team. Probably is the only team which is playing all matches at different venues. That’s a little bit of an added a bit of disadvantage, I would say because every venue wants to have a pie of the share of the Indian team playing. Unfortunately, Hyderabad missed out, like you said, being such a wonderful venue. But that is what it is about the Indian team in this World Cup. They’ve got to embrace the pressure and have fun,” concluded Sridhar.
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