'Bhavnao ko samjho...': MS Dhoni on India's chances of winning ODI World Cup 2023

Cricketer extraordinaire MS Dhoni, who is considered to be one of the best captains the Men in Blue ever had, has now revealed his thoughts on the current team and its performance in ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023. India played its sixth match on Sunday and registered its sixth consecutive win in this World Cup. 

MS Dhoni, who led India to victory against Sri Lanka to lift the World Cup 2011 trophy, said that he does not want to jinx it but the Indian team is looking very strong. Speaking with comedian Tanmay Bhat and finfluencer Sharan Hegde at Prabhav 2023, an event organised by Rigi app, Dhoni said, “Humari team bahut strong hai…abhi humne ek ad campaign bhi kiya hai, so I don’t want to jinx it by saying anything more. (Our team is very strong…we just did an ad campaign…)”

“Bhavnao ko samjho…it is a very good team…bahut achcha balance hai team ka…sab log achcha khel rahe hai…everything is looking very good…isse zyada mai kuch nahin bolunga, baki samajhdar ko ishaara kaafi hai…(Please understand the sentiments…it is a very good team…the team has a very good balance…everyone is playing well…everything is looking good…I don’t want to say more than that…a hint is enough for the wise)” said MS Dhoni in the conversation. 

India won its first World Cup 2023 match against Australia by 6 wickets and 52 balls to spare, and continued its victory run against Afghanistan (8 wickets, 90 balls left), Pakistan (7 wickets), Bangladesh (7 wickets, 51 balls left), New Zealand (4 wickets, 12 balls left) and England (100 runs). 

India’s victory against the defending champions was all the sweeter as the Men in Blue had set up a below-par total of 229-9. India’s early setbacks (40 for 3), including Virat Kohli’s 0 off 9 balls, on a tricky surface at Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, stacked up the odds against the team, even as captain Rohit Sharma knocked off an 87 off 101 balls. 

But the Indian bowlers’ splendid performance (52 for 5) put India back on track with complete dominance in the second innings. Joe Root (0 off 1) and Ben Stokes (0 off 10) were sent packing by Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami respectively. 

Bumrah picked three wickets, Shami picked four, Kuldeep Yadav picked two, and Ravindra Jadeja picked one wicket to restrict the English side for only 129. 

India is on top of the points table with 12 points from the six wins, and a net run rate of 1.405. India will next face Sri Lanka on November 2, South Africa on November 5, Netherlands on November 12.

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