The Indian cricket team may hold the top spot in all formats worldwide, but former batsman Gautam Gambhir doesn’t place much importance on their ICC rankings.
With the primary goal for the Indian team being to win the ODI World Cup this year, Gambhir firmly believes that to achieve this, they must overcome the challenge of defeating Australia, a team with an impressive track record in ICC events. Australia, having the most successful history in the 50-over World Cup, naturally emerges as one of the favorites.
Nonetheless, Gambhir remains optimistic that the Indian team can prevail against them. In a special episode of Star Sports’ ‘Mission World Cup,’ the 2011 Cricket World Cup champion, Gambhir, underscored the critical significance of overcoming Australia in the tournament.
Also read: India No. 1 in All Three Formats in ICC Rankings ahead of Cricket World Cup
“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,” Gambhir added.
In terms of country-specific champions, Australia has clinched the ICC ODI World Cup trophy on five occasions, establishing themselves as the most triumphant team in the tournament’s history. Following closely behind, West Indies and India have each secured the coveted trophy twice. The most recent World Cup, held in 2019, saw England emerge as the champions, and they currently hold the title.
“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,” Gambhir further said.