India will host the 2023 ODI World Cup in October-November later in the year and star spinner Ravichandran Ashwin wants the International Cricket Council (ICC) to take a big step in order to ensure an even contest between bat and ball. The multi-national tournament is scheduled at a time when dew becomes a legitimate factor, sometimes even the deciding factor towards the evening and for the first time it will be staged completely in India across different venues.
"There's no point in heading in a direction and going loggerheads with conditions because conditions cannot be challenged. You need to learn the conditions and adapt. India team has enough in their arsenal to be able to do that," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
"However, on a given day if these conditions of dew, boundary sizes, things going here and there cannot be controlled, and that's the only thing I believe India need to be wary of going into this World Cup... For India, in this regard, are going to be a bit short-changed because of the number of venues we play these games in.
"If they get the right conditions of cricket being competed with skill to skill, this is a team that will be very tough to beat. I certainly believe ICC should give it a thought to have a dew-free 2023 ODI World Cup," the veteran Indian cricketer added.
Whatever the scenario, the Men in Blue will have no excuse whatsoever in the World Cup. The senior men's national team hasn't won an ICC trophy in a decade and with quadrennial competition being staged in their own backyard, Rohit Sharma's men will carry the weight of over 1.4 billion expectations.
