‘It would have been even more difficult if….’ – Sunil Gavaskar opines about India’s chances in ODI World Cup 2023

Finally, the wait surrounding the fixtures of the ODI World Cup have come to an end with Apex cricket council announcing the fixtures for the marquee event earlier this week. The 2023 ODI World Cup campaign for Team India will start exactly three months and one week after that. According to the ICC’s schedule, the mega tournament will begin on October 5 with a match in Mumbai. However, India’s trip will begin three days later, on October 8, when they take on five-time world champions Australia at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Now the legendary India batter, Sunil Gavaskar, also made an interesting observation on India’s World Cup schedule and their opening matchup against a Pat Cummins-led team which will be very important for India. Both the teams are firm favorites to win the title so it will be an interesting contest for the fans.

In a chat with Star Sports, Gavaskar said that for the Indian team, it is an advantage that they are starting their World Cup campaign against one of the strongest sides in the tournament rather than facing such an opponent in a must-win game later in the league phase.

“Absolutely. It would have been even more difficult if you were to play Australia in a must-win last match. I feel it is always an advantage to play against the good teams first. If you don’t get a good result, you have chances later. If you probably play against some weak team later, you will know what you need to do against them and with what margin you need to win,” Gavaskar opined.

The former India opener also recalled that the 1983 campaign for the Indian side also began their World Cup campaign against the defending champions, West Indies. India will be starting their campaign against five-time World Champions, Australia, and on October 8 in Chennai. The Rohit Sharma-led side will be playing across nine of the 10 World Cup venues across the nation. Their final game in the league phase will be against a qualifier on November 11.