In a sensational prediction, the former BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has said that Pakistan will face India in the World Cup 2023 semifinal.
Ganguly's statement came ahead of India'sWorld Cup match against South Africa at the iconic Eden Gardens stadium in Kolkata on November 4.
In an exclusive interaction with Sports Tak, former India skipper expressed his wish to see India vs Pakistan's semifinal clash at the Eden Gardens stadium and said that there won't be a bigger game than this.
“I want Pakistan to reach here at Eden Gardens and play India in the semi finals. There won't be a bigger game than that,” Ganguly told Sports Tak.
Notably, one of the World Cup 2023's semifinals will be played on November 15 in Mumbai while the other will be staged in Kolkata on November 16.
However, there have been a stark performance from both the teams in the ODI World Cup 2023. Where India have already made it to the semifinals with seven back-to-back victories, Pakistan are still struggling to make it to the top four. However, Pakistan have finally returned to winning ways after suffering four losses on the trot. Their recent victory came against New Zealand on November 4, which they won by 21 runs by DLS method while chasing a mammoth total of 402 runs at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru. Notably India bulldozed Pakistan by seven wickets in the ongoing World Cup on October 14 in Ahmedabad.
The 51-year-old was also all praise for the Rohit Sharma's Team India, given their unbeaten streak in the ongoing ODI World Cup.
“Entire India should be happy the way this Indian team is playing. There has been a stark difference between this India team and the other teams in the tournament. Hope they continue to play like this and I don't think their level will drop so much that they will fail,” Ganguly added.
Meanwhile, Ganguly also spoke about India vs South Africa's clash and went on to say that it will be the best match of the tournament so far.
“This is a big match between two of the best teams of this World Cup. People have gone mad for the tickets and there's a massive demand for the tickets. Police even had resort to lathi charge to control fans. The capacity of this ground is 67 thousands and the entire Kolkata wants to see this match, which is very difficult,” he said.
“To beat India will be very difficult. South Africa is also playing good cricket but to beat India will be a huge task. I think this game will be the best match of the tournament so far,” Ganguly added.
On India's lethal pace battery Ganguly said,"This is a very good attack. We are enjoying this pace attack, the way they all are bowling, Siraj, Mohd Shami and Bumrah. Bumrah's return has made a massive difference to the team and has a massive impact on the other two pacers."
Ganguly, who amassed 11,363 runs in ODIs, also predicted Rohit Sharma's century at the iconic Eden Gardens stadium.
“This is a very good wicket and the outfield is quick. This wicket normally produces good runs, hopefully Rohit Sharma gets a century and India goes into the semifinal as the no.1 team. It will be a very good wicket, it will have bounce pace and the outfield is very quick. Hope we will have a great game here. This demand for the tickets will all be justified,” he further added.
Beside this, Ganguly also spoke about Virat Kohli's imminent 49th ODI ton. So far Kohli has struck 48 ODI hundreds and is just one ton shy of emulating Sachin Tendulkar's all-time record of most centuries in ODIs.
“Virat is one of the greats. Will be great if he gets his 49th ODI ton at the Eden Gardens, he did come close to scoring it a few times in the tournament. In fact all this batters are scoring well - Rohit, Virat, Shreyas, Shubman Gill and the bowlers are looking good too. It looks like a good complete team. Won't say much, hope I don't jinx it but this team looks like a team that should win,” Ganguly concluded.
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