“India will win today”: Sourav Ganguly after visiting Durga Pandal in Kolkata

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India]: “India will win today” against New Jealand in Dharamshala, said former India skipper Sourav Ganguly after offering prayers at the Durga Puja pandal at his locality in Behala here.

The former left-hand batsman was accompanied by his wife Dona Ganguly and his brother Snehashis Ganguly. Following their visit, they also offered ‘Ashtami Anjali’ at Behala Players Corner Durga Puja.

While talking to the press, Sourav Ganguly said that the ‘Men in Blue’ are displaying a stellar show at the ODI World Cup 2023 and Rohit Sharma’s side will win against the Kiwis.

“India is playing very well and they will win today. This is a long tournament and every player is performing well in the tournament,” the former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president said.

In the 21st game of the ODI World Cup 2023 at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamshala, ‘Men in Blue’ skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to field first against New Zealand on Sunday.

India will be seeking revenge for MS Dhoni’s run-out by Martin Guptill in the 2019 World Cup semi-final 1566 days ago, which cost India a victory which once seemed possible.

Both teams are unbeaten after playing four games each, today one team’s unbeaten run is bound to end.

The ‘Men in Blue’ have made two crucial changes as Suryakumar Yadav comes in for injured Hardik Pandya while Mohammed Shami is making his first appearance in the ongoing World Cup in place of Shardul Thakur.

India captain Rohit Sharma said during the time of toss, “We’ll bowl first. No reason, we were here training yesterday and felt a bit of dew come in. Looks like a good pitch, we’ll back ourselves to chase. Quite important to keep the momentum going, and forget what happened in the past. Need to be at it all the time. This is one place everyone wants to come and play, with beautiful weather and a nice stadium. Hardik isn’t available, and so is Shardul. We’ve got Shami and Surya.”

New Zealand skipper Tom Latham said at the time of toss, “We’d have bowled first as well. Looks like a good surface, and we know the dew will come in. The important thing is whatever we do, we need to do well. We need to keep the momentum going. We are in a new ground, new conditions so need to adjust to these conditions as quickly as we can. We’ve got the same team for today – three seamers and two spinners.”

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (Wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj.

New Zealand (Playing XI): Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (Wk/C), Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult.