Team India's historic gold medal at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou sparked a meme fest, leading to hilarious reactions from netizens on social media.
On Saturday, Team India made history after Ruturaj Gaikwad and his boys clinched the country's maiden gold medal in men's cricket in the Asian Games.
The landmark feat came in Hangzhou after the final between India and Afghanistan in the Chinese city was interrupted by heavy showers, and the Men in Blue were declared the winners due to their higher seeding in Asia's greatest multi-sports spectacle.
After India won the toss and opted to bowl first, Afghanistan found themselves in a deep hole at 12/3 after Zubaid Akbari (5), Mohammad Shahzad (4), and Noor Ali Zadran (1) got out in the first four overs of their essay.
However, Shahidullah's unbeaten 49 off 43 deliveries helped them to 112/5 in 18.2 overs when heavy rain began pouring down at the Zhejiang University of Technology Cricket Field, and the umpires decided to call off the game.
Notably, the 2023 Asian Games were historic for the Indian men's and women's cricket teams.
Before the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led side's success, the Indian women's cricket team bagged the yellow metal, giving the South Asian nation their first-ever gold medal at the continental showpiece event.
Interestingly, the Indians failed to win a medal at the previous editions of the Asian Games after cricket was inducted into the prestigious competition in 2010.
With India's second-string side claiming the gold medal at the Asian Games, the focus would shift to the Rohit Sharma-led team. Hosts India will begin their ICC Cricket World Cup campaign against Australia in Chennai on Sunday.
According to former India opener Gautam Gambhir, who played a crucial role in the team's 2011 World Cup victory, Rohit Sharma and his men would have to beat Australia to reclaim the title this year.
“Look, I have always said this, and there is no doubt in this, that if you want to win the World Cup, then you have to beat Australia. In 2007 when we won the World Cup, we defeated Australia in the semifinal. In 2011 when we won the World Cup, we beat Australia in the quarterfinal. Australia is the strongest team in any ICC tournament. Remove the ranking, the ranking does not matter,” Gautam Gambhir said on Star Sports.
“You can be in any position in the rankings, but Australia, when it comes to those big tournaments, the World Cups, I think Australia has got the players, they have got the self-belief, Australia has the ability to play those big moments really well. And you can see this, the two World Cups that India won, we had to beat Australia in the knockout stage two times. And the World Cups that we have lost, in 2015 we lost to Australia. So I believe that if we have to win the World Cup this year, Australia is going to be the most important game, and we start against Australia, so there is nothing better than that. So beating Australia is very, very important,” the former India batter added.
On the other hand, Nasser Hussain dubbed India as the favorite to lift the prestigious trophy come November.
“They're favorites but they're not clear favorites because of the amount of quality sides there are. If you look at their squad, they have two of the greatest white ball batters to ever play the game in Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. They have a potential future great in Shubman Gill and Bumrah coming back is fantastic news. So if you look at their batting and bowling, it's right up there among one of the best squads,” Nasser Hussain told Sky Sports.
“An area where they lack is if you look at the batters, they don't bowl and the bowlers don't bat. So the side has a different make-up to England and Australia with all the all-rounders,” he explained.
“You could argue that there's pressure all the time on Indian players. But where they have fallen short is the knockouts since the 2011 World Cup. They need to play above par, play fearless cricket. I think they will get to the knockout stage, but when they get to the semifinal, that's when they need to play fearless cricket,” the ex-England captain concluded.
Despite India's recent success in multi-team events and bilateral matches, captain Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid are worried about opening batter Shubman Gill's health. Shubman Gill, the highest run-maker in ODIs this year, is suffering from dengue and may not be available for the game against the Kangaroos.
But as per Rohit Sharma, a final decision about Shubman Gill's participation in India's World Cup opener will only be taken just minutes ahead of the toss in Chennai.
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