Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has given his mantra for the Indian team to handle the pressure and come out on top at the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.
The Men in Blue, led by Rohit Sharma, will be kicking off their T20 World Cup campaign in the USA and West Indies from June 5 onwards. India have been placed into Group A along with their arch-rivals Pakistan followed by Ireland, Canada, and the co-hosting nation of the United States. It will be India’s 3rd attempt at winning an ICC silverware in the last year.
In 2023, Rohit Sharma and co. had lost the World Test Championship final in June and the 50-over World Cup final in November. On both occasions, it was the Australian team, led by Pat Cummins, that had excelled over the Indians. At the upcoming T20 World Cup, which begins from tomorrow, Rohit will look to avoid such a thing happening again.
And ahead of India’s Group stages from June 5, Sourav Ganguly has come up with a mantra of his own.
Sourav Ganguly gives special advice to Rahul Dravid
During an exclusive interview with RevSportz, Sourav Ganguly had a piece of advice to share with his former teammate and current head coach Rahul Dravid. Not just Ganguly but the entire of India recognizes Dravid’s effort to build the Indian team in his 3-year tenure which began in 2021.
He led the side to 2 ICC finals and despite not winning them, he will go down as one of the best coaches ever. But in what is going to be his final assignment with India, Sourav Ganguly has suggested Rahul Dravid to be a little relaxed and approach the World Cup at ease.
“If I can say something to Rahul [Dravid] and, make no mistake, he is a champion cricketer and cricket brain, it will be to relax a little.” – Sourav Ganguly said via RevSportz.
Sourav Ganguly explains why he wants the Indian camp to be relaxed
Sourav Ganguly went on to highlight and mention one mistake all of the Indian fans make when the National team plays in a competition. He used the example of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s wives crossing their fingers and being in a tense situation during a match. Ganguly feels that shouldn’t be the case.
The Prince of Kolkata claimed Indian fans make the mistake of pushing the team too much, something that happened at the 2003 World Cup as well. Therefore, Ganguly’s mantra is simple and that is to be as relaxed as possible in the big games and play with freedom.
“When I see Rohit’s wife in the stands, it is evident how much pressure she is under. When I see Virat’s wife, I see the kind of pressure she is feeling. We in India make the mistake of pushing too much. I think back to the 2003 [World Cup] final, for example. If anything, we need to relax when we are playing the big games. Just play with freedom.” – Sourav Ganguly concluded.
India to lock horns with Bangladesh today
Rohit Sharma’s side is all set to lock horns with neighbors Bangladesh later tonight in their only warm-up game for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. The match will start at 8:00 PM (IST) at the Nassau County stadium in New York.
