ODI World Cup 2023

Harbhajan Singh sends stern message to Team India ahead of 2023 ODI World Cup

The 2023 World Cup will kick off on October 5.

Jul 20, 2023 2:51 pm

Harbhajan Singh and Team India (Source: Twitter)

Harbhajan Singh and Team India (Source: Twitter)

The 50-over tournament will be held in India for the first time since 2011. Team India has not had the best of times in ODI cricket and recently lost a bilateral series against Australia at home. They have not won a world event since 2013 under the leadership of MS Dhoni. The ODI World Cup kicks off on October 5. The first match will be played between England and New Zealand. Ahead of the big tournament, Harbhajan Singh said the Men in Blue need to pull up their socks to win the World Cup.

Harbhajan went a step further and said the team needs to respond better to pressure situations. He said that the side should not be dependent only on one or two players such as the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma but the Men in Blue need to perform as a unit. He said new people should find ways to rise up and perform in high-pressure situations. India have not had the rub of the green going with them at World events. India will want to set things right on home turf and in front of home fans.

Team India should focus on small things to make a big difference in ODI World Cup 2023 -Harbhajan Singh

“I don’t know, it’s very difficult for me to say what we had and they don’t. We played till the semi-finals in 2015 and 2019, the ICC trophy didn’t come. Maybe the ability to punch back after absorbing the pressure has probably been seen in only one or two players. You need to play big tournaments as a team,” Harbhajan told New 24Sports. “You have Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya – they are big players but along with these three players, the rest of the eight to ten players and the team management, everyone has to walk together with the same motive,” Harbhajan added.

“The small-small things like saving a single or a brilliant run-out, all those are also huge things. So when the team plays as a unit, they can produce bigger results and that is what probably our team did better. Maybe they are much better than our team talent-wise,” Singh said India should focus on doing the small things right and be switched on. He said if India holds on to the small moments then they can produce match-winning results in the ODI World Cup.