- Saturday, May 04, 2024
Ten teams will compete for the crown in 48 matches played over 46 days with the final happening on November 19.
By: Shubham Ghosh
THE much-awaited International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup 2023 is set to kick off on Thursday (5) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad in the western Indian state of Gujarat and on the eve of the inaugural day, captains of all 10 participating teams gathered at the venue for the Captains Day photo sessions and an interactive panel session that also featured former India captain Ravi Shastri and the winning captain of the 2019 edition, Eoin Morgan.
The tournament, which will begin with a rerun of the last edition’s final between champions England and runners-up New Zealand in Ahmedabad, will continue till November 19 when the final will be played at the same venue. In all, 48 matches will be played in 10 venues across India. All teams will play each other with the top four point-getters marching to the semi-finals.
Speaking at the event, India captain Rohit Sharma said, “I have said it from the start, you know, every leader sitting here wants to achieve something really special for their country. It is something that is very highly prized; the 50-Over World Cup is something that I have always dreamt of growing up as a child, and I am sure it is the same for all the guys sitting here as well.”
Pat Cummins, captain of Australia, said he did not think there are too many events in the world where one feels like half the world is tuning in to watch and whenever the arch-rivals India and Pakistan clash in a World Cup.
“So, although you’re personally not involved, you feel like you want to watch it and hear about all the commentary and the passion around the game. So, it’s going to be great that it’s at this stadium. You can have over 100,000 people,” he said.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam praised the hospitality his team has received in India and added that it was beyond their expectation. He said it felt as if they were at home and not in India and hoped that everyone would give their everything in the tournament and enjoy it.
The Pakistan cricket team visited India after a gap of seven years and is desperate to reclaim glory in a tournament which they have won only once till now, under the great Imran Khan in 1992.
England skipper Jos Buttler, who led his country to the title win in the T20 World Cup in Australia less than a year ago, said, “The team’s been mainly together for a long time since 2015, since the start of that sort of revolution that you mentioned, and I think you said right through the game.
“Now in England, young players coming through play a certain way and are determined to carry on the style, and I think we know it gives us the best chance of success. We will get it wrong at times, but we’ve made peace with that, and it’s something we want to continue to strive to do, to keep pushing the boundaries.”
Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi said his team was expecting support from the crowd during the tournament and expressed confidence that conditions in India would help Afghanistan’s spinners and batters. The Afghans will look to deliver a better result compared to their disappointing outing in the 2019 edition when they lost all their matches.
Shakib Al Hasan, the captain of Bangladesh and arguably the country’s all-time great, said he was confident about his team’s preparations for the mega event.
“If we talk about the last four years since the 2019 World Cup, we are probably the third or fourth team in the qualifiers’ point system. So, we have done really well as a group; now it’s time for us to put on a good show. Our team is ready, and the country is expecting a little more than what we did previously,” the ace all-rounder, who himself was in sublime form with both the bat and ball in the 2019 edition, said.
Netherlands captain Scott Edwards said all games in the tournament will be tricky. The men in orange had made their World Cup debut in the 1996 edition which was also played in the Indian subcontinent and the qualifiers will look to compete hard with some of the top-ranked sides in the tournament.
The Netherlands will meet Pakistan in their first game and the tournament’s second game in Hyderabad on Friday (6).
Temba Bavuma, the South African captain, said his team has the experience and knowledge about playing in India. South Africa have never made the final of the World Cup despite making the semi-finals a number of times since 1992 when they first took part and the Proteas will look to change history this time.
Sri Lanka captain Dasun Sanaka conceded that injuries have been a problem for his side but expressed confidence in his side to do well. The islanders had a humiliating defeat against India in the final of the Asia Cup recently and lost both their warm-up matches against Bangladesh and Afghanistan, respectively, ahead of the big event. Yet, Sanaka said they were looking forward to doing well in the World Cup.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said, “As you mentioned, you come to another event, and everybody certainly starts from the same position and starts again, and you go from tournament to tournament, teams change, opposition conditions.
“For us, it’s focusing on the style of cricket that we want to keep committing to, and that gives us the best chance of putting on our best performance. It’s been nice to have some enjoyable times and certainly full of different challenges over a number of tournaments that we have been involved in, but we’re really excited about the challenges that lie ahead for this one.”
New Zealand made the finals of the last two editions but lost to the hosts Australia and England, respectively.
Meanwhile, reports said that there would be no opening ceremony for the World Cup and the Board of Control for Cricket in India might organise a grand closing ceremony after the final on November 19 and ahead of the India-Pakistan clash in Ahmedabad on October 14.
(With ICC website inputs)
