As the Indian Premier League (IPL) has come to an end, all focus has shifted to the mega event, the ICC World Cup; which is scheduled to start from May 30 in England. Despite saying India is one of the probable contenders, former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes expressed that due to the changes in the format of the upcoming tournament, there is no such favourite team for the mega event. The tournament will be played in a round-robin way, where all 10 the teams will play with each other and the top four teams will qualify for the semi-finals.
“India might have the fab 15 but there are probably six other teams that might call themselves the same. There are some very strong teams in the World Cup and it will depend on the balanced 11 that they chose on the day, depending on the conditions,” Jonty Rhodes said to PTI.
“India have got a lot of experience too. Even young players like (Jasprit) Bumrah, is one of the more experienced death bowlers, so from that point of view India will be fancying their chances but there are six other sides, top six. And I am not even talking about West Indies, who are ranked seventh. They have started to play decent 50-over cricket again and there is no team that can go into any match of the tournament as favourites. So every game is important, you need those points. The change in format has made it really wide open,” he further added.
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The veteran has also shared that all-rounder Hardik Pandya would play a major role for India in the upcoming tournament but he needs to adjust to the One Day format soon.
“Hardik Pandya’s role is really important because he is coming as a batsman and a bowler and he has got the knack of taking wickets. But the key is that he needs to quickly adjust because in a T20 game you can face seven balls and bowl may be two overs and make a difference,” he said.
“But in a fifty over game if you are going to finish a game, you might have to bat from 35 overs, so that is going to be the difference. And he (Hardik) has got the temperament, he backs himself and he just has to know that he has a job to do (and) it’s not about one helicopter shot. It is (about) taking a game through like a Virat Kohli and finishing the match for India,” he further expressed.
India will start their World Cup campaign against South Africa at the Rose Bowl in Southampton on June 5.
