Former Australia captain Greg Chappell has claimed that Australian and England cricketers are better acclimatized to Indian conditions than ever before.
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The 2023 ODI World Cup countdown has already begun. With less than two months left before the big-ticket event, England and Australia are among the sides who have named their preliminary sides. The tournament is returning to the Indian subcontinent after a gap of 10 years. India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka co-hosted the 2011 edition. This is the first time that the tournament will be hosted by India alone.
Talking to Boria Majumdar on RevSportz, Chappell reckoned that Indian conditions are no longer unknown to Australia and England cricketers, as they play there regularly in the IPL and bilateral international series. He said the “mystery” which has historically given an added advantage to the home side, has diminished over recent years.
“I think the home team will have an advantage and I think the Asian teams will perform well in India. But I don’t think India has the same mystery for the Australian players, who spent quite a bit of time there in recent years,” said Chappell. “They get to understand the variations in conditions. Some England players too now spend time in India.”
As a former India head coach who served from 2005 to 2007, Chappell agreed that India would still start the tournament as favourites. He recollected his memories during his coaching tenure when the side dominated in their backyard.
“Indian team have always coped well at home,” he said. “It was pretty interesting for me to sit in the dressing room and look at the visiting teams. There was always a feeling that the Indian team were pretty comfortable and could cope with whatever was thrown at them in their home conditions and respond well. I think India start favorites in any match at the World Cup. The opposition has the work to do to pull them back.”
Talking about Sachin Tendulkar’s longevity, he highlighted the need to evolve as a cricketer in order to stay ahead of the opponents. “Focus on the basics” was another piece of advice to prolong one’s career, according to the 75-year-old.
“As one gets older, the opposition tends to know more about the player and then they know how to bowl better and what fields to set. And that means getting rid of some of these extraneous information, keep it simple and focus on the basic things,” Chappell continued.
He suggested iconic batter, Virat Kohli, who’s in the last phase of his career, to follow this mantra in order to succeed in the home World Cup.
Chappell added: “I have no doubt that Virat is in that stage of his career and hence it requires a special effort to score runs. And for that you need to decompress yourself and just keep it simple. Virat also needs to go into these games mentally fresh and he knows what he needs to do for that. If Virat can achieve that, he will have a very good tournament”.
ICC trophies have eluded the hosts ever since their 2013 Champions Trophy win under the leadership of MS Dhoni. They have a chance to amend their records, given they have the home crowd behind them.
While Australia have five trophies in their cabinet, both India (1983 and 2011) and West Indies (1975 and 1979) have won twice each. England are the defending champions after their riveting win in 2019 over New Zealand based on boundary count as the scores were tied in the Super Over. India are favourites with Betway to win the Cricket World Cup, pricing them at odds of 11/5 to win the competition.
