Team India face Netherlands in their last league game of the Cricket World Cup 2023 with an aim to maintain a clean sheet in the first stage of the tournament. The Rohit Sharma-led side has won all eight games so far and look the hot favourites to lift the cup. They will face either New Zealand or Pakistan in the first semi-final on November 15. It looks more like an India vs New Zealand semifinal as Pakistan have a mountain of NRR to climb to qualify.
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If Pakistan make it to semis somehow, the first semi-final will shift to Eden Gardens in Kolkata and the second between South Africa and Australia will be played at Mumbai. The International Cricket Council (ICC) had announced it earlier that Mumbai will be the venue for the first semi-final only if Pakistan are not playing that match.
India have qualified for the semifinals of the ODI World Cup consistently since 2011. But have won the tournament only once, that too in 2011. In 2015 and 2019, India made it to semis but lost to Australia and New Zealand respectively. The Indian fans cannot forget the 2019 semifinal which turned out to be the last international game for MS Dhoni. India missed the mark by a whisker back then.
Viv Richards said - "Virat Kohli is a go-getter and what sets him apart is his mental strength. He will have backed himself throughout and occasions in past in which I have chatted with him, his mental strength has always been evident". pic.twitter.com/e1Kp3INTuH
— CricketMAN2 (@ImTanujSingh) November 10, 2023
If New Zealand make it semis, it will be a repeat of the 2019 WC semis. India will remember the last semifinal before entering the contest and it could be on their minds.
Vivian Richards, who has won the Wor Cup twice with West Indies in 1975 and 1983, believes that if India are to win, they must continue to play in their same mode they are currently playing with.
Writing a column on the ICC website, Richards say that Indians should go out to the field all guns blazing.
"India have a mindset that they can go all the way playing like this," Richards said on his column for the ICC.
"That absolutely should be their mindset and would be mine if I was in that dressing room – let’s go out with all guns blazing. That approach has worked so far and if that changes, things may go astray.
Richards also said that Rohit Sharma and Co should cut out the outside noise and focus on the job without letting negative thoughts creep in.
"I believe they can go all the way unbeaten, which is really something to strive for. There may be some fears of ‘we have played so well so far, there may be a bad game around the corner in the semi-final’. They have to try and nullify those and banish any negative thoughts," said Richards.
