Ravichandran Ashwin reveals why India are favourites for every major tournament

India veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has explained the reason why India are always a favourite before every major tournament. He believes the opponents try to label India as favourites for the ODI World Cup 2023 to put extra pressure on the team. This time the World Cup will be hosted only in India.

The off-spinner states that it is a kind of mind game played by the opponents to put on pressure on other teams so that it can affect their performances. It is no different for the ODI World Cup 2023 and considering the fact that India is a host of the big event most fans are counting them as the champions for the game.

I know people around the world of cricket will keep saying India are favourites: Ravichandran Ashwin

Ashwin on his YouTube channel, “I know people around the world of cricket will keep saying India are favourites. All the cricketers worldwide will use this as a strategy and say India are favourites before every major event.” “They use this strategy to reduce their pressure and put extra pressure on us. India could be one of the favourites.”

Speaking of the other favourites the 36-year-old said, “But Australia are also a powerhouse. We spoke about the second ODI loss in Barbados. I mentioned that we should back Team India and send them pressure free to the World Cup. Most agreed, but some of them were like, Looks like he is already being cautious about what will happen if Team India doesn’t win and blaming everything on the fans.”

The Tamil-Nadu spinner further added, “See we should realise that one cannot shift the blame on the fans. I also understand. What I meant was that fans are the most important stakeholders of the team. Fans can change the entire vibe of a cricket match. Every time the home team is having that momentum, it will be really difficult for the away team when the support is huge.”

India’s cricketing supremacy is well-documented, having won two World Cups in 1983 and 2011. The latter triumph was especially notable since it was the first time a country has won the Cricket World Cup on its own land. Aside from these victories, India also finished second in the 2003 Cricket World Cup and has been a semi-finalist four times, 1987, 1996, 2015, and 2019.