Kolkata: Indian cricket team’s former star opener Virender Sehwag feels that the Men in Blue are the hot favourites to lift the 2019 World Cup which will be played in England.
“We are favourites to win the 2019 World Cup,” Sehwag said during the launch of Boria Majumdar’s book ‘Eleven Gods and A Billion Indians’ in Kolkata on Friday.
As per Sehwag the current Indian team led by Virat Kohli has that x-factor to win a test series away from home, despite of their 1-2 loss in the recently concluded Test series in South Africa.
“This team has the capability to win Test series outside India. We could have won the first or second Test if we payed one session well with the bat,” said Sehwag who is Kings XI Punjab’s mentor in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). Punjab take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Saturday.
Later this year Virat Kohli & co will tour Australia. The Aussies will miss the services of their former skipper David Warner and the star opener David Warner who are suspended by Cricket Australia for next 12 months. Though Sehwag feels that the Indian team don’t bother about it. “It doesn’t matter if they are there or not.”
On being asked whether this bowling attack is the best of all time, Sehwag said,”In our days, we had (Javagal) Srinath , Zaheer (Khan), (Ajit) Agarkar and Ashish (Nehra). But they rarely got to play together and when they did we reached the final in the 2003 World Cup.
“This lot is really good. They can deliver in any conditions.”
On Punjab’s West Indian opener Chris Gayle, who smashed a whirlwind 63-ball 104 against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday, Sehwag said there is no bigger entertainer than the effervescent 38-year old who is T20 cricket’s most successful batsman.
“Nobody is a greater entertainer than him,” Sehwag said.
Gayle was not picked in the IPL auctions initially before Punjab decided to take T20 cricket’s most successful batsman for his base price of Rs.2 crore.
Dropped for the first two games, Gayle helped Punjab beat Chennai Super Kings by notching up a 33-ball 63 before the hundred.
“That was a strategy because we had to buy other players also. He would have cost more if he was taken up in the first phase,” Sehwag explained.
“He was injured last season and it is difficult to score runs. Ask any cricketer, with a back injury, it’s difficult to score runs and that’s what he told us also. He missed a lot of games because he had pain in his back,” concluded Sehwag.