Former Indian captain and one of the best players in their history, Sourav Ganguly, expressed his desire to see Pakistan in the ICC World Cup 2023 semi-final.
India, South Africa and Australia have already booked their place in the mega event's semi-final and as of now, three teams — New Zealand, Afghanistan and Pakistan — are fighting for the one vacant position.
As things stand, the Black Caps seem to be in a dominating position to qualify and they are closely followed by Pakistan while Afghanistan's position is the weakest courtesy of their negative net run rate (NRR).
Ganguly, who represented India in 424 international matches, believes that there is no bigger match than India vs Pakistan and that is what he wants to see in the semi-final of the World Cup.
“I want Pakistan to reach the semifinals and play against India. It can’t be a bigger semifinal than that,” said Ganguly during a recent interview.
The former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) also stated that he does not want to jinx India's chances of winning the World Cup and also said that it won't be a shock if they fail to win the mega event.
“No, it won’t be a shock if this Indian team doesn’t win the World Cup. It doesn’t happen in sports like that. The entire nation is happy with the way India is playing. The way they have played in the eight games, it appears that there is a big gap from the rest of the teams. I hope they keep playing like this. I don’t think the level will drop so drastically that they will suddenly start playing poor cricket. Fingers crossed, they are looking very good,” said the former captain.
It must be noted that New Zealand is currently playing Sri Lanka and if they win the match, things will get a lot more difficult for the Green Shirts.
Schedule of remaining World Cup matches
November 9: New Zealand vs Sri Lanka @ M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru (ongoing)
November 10: South Africa vs Afghanistan @ Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
November 11: Australia vs Bangladesh @ Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune.
November 11: England vs Pakistan @ Eden Gardens, Kolkata
November 12: India vs Netherlands @ M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
November 15: Semi-final 1 — First place vs fourth place @ Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
November 16: Semi-final 2 — Second place vs third place @ Eden Gardens, Kolkata
November 19: Final — Winner of Semi-final 1 vs winner of Semi-final 2 @ Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
- Sourav Ganguly
