ODI World Cup Captains Day Highlights: Rohit, Babar Discuss Cricket, Biryani And Ind-Pak Clash
ODI World Cup 2023 Captains Day Highlights: The mega event is set to take place on October 5.
"We were excited! Cricket is the biggest sport in India so I am not surprised by the excitement. The World Cup is happening in India after 12 years,"
"We were happy to get those days off. Looking at heat, and stuff like that. We have been playing a lot of cricket of late. We played 4 games in the Asia Cup and 3 against Australia. We know where we are at. I would've loved to play those two games. But can't do too much when the weather is like that apart from one part of India to the other part."
"People are going to love this tournament. The stadiums will be jam-packed. Indians love their cricket. It is going to be a great tournament": Rohit Sharma
"We are excited about the India clash. It is always a big match. But, we have two games before that," said Babar Azam.
Babar Azam said, "Since the time we reached Hyderabad, the hospitality we got, was amazing. It would've been great if fans had come from Pakistan. I hope we get this sort of support in every match. "
"We are here in another competition. 2019 was amazing but we are looking forward to what this one brings. It will be different from many levels": Kane Williamson.
“Australia have done very well in ODI World Cups over the years. Hoping to do the same this time around”, said Pat Cummins, Australia skipper.
Rohit Sharma said, "Not thinking too much about that stuff but yeah in the last 3 editions hosting teams won the World Cups and we will give our everything in this World Cup and enjoy the tournament".
"We weren't expecting the sort of reception we got at Hyderabad after we reached India. It didn't feel like we were in India but back home": Babar Azam.
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma and Pakistan's Babar Azam are on the stage now.
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri came on the stage and welcomed the skippers of Afghanistan and the Netherlands. They gave their quick feedback as to how it feels to lead their respective teams in the World Cup.
The event started by featuring Ranveer Singh's World Cup song and the video was played on the screen. The video also had Yuzvendra Chahal's wife Dhanashree dancing.
Background
The 2023 edition of the World Cup is just a day away with the tournament opener set to take place on October 5. As per several reports, it is highly likely to not have an opening ceremony, and the mega event is expected to get underway with a 'Captains' Day' event which will see all the 10 skippers’ involvement on Wednesday, October 4.
The 'Captains' Day' will witness the press conference alongside an official photo session and will also be serving as the official beginning of the marquee tournament. A grand opening ceremony was organised back during the 2011 World Cup jointly hosted by Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and India.
“The Captains’ Day media event at Banquet Hall of the GCA clubhouse will begin at 2:30 pm sharp. Media must be seated by 2:15 pm to start the live broadcast of the event,” an ICC advisory stated on Tuesday.
The season opener will witness a rematch of the previous World Cup, including the defending champions England and runner-ups (2019) New Zealand. The English side will come to play the opening game after winning their second warm-up game over Bangladesh by four wickets. Their first warm-up game was called off due to inclement weather.
New Zealand on the other hand have a bit of an injury scare as their regular skipper Kane Williamson will not take part in the first match as a precautionary measure and senior pacer Tim Southee is in a race against time to gain full fitness ahead of the tournament opener.
Talking about the Indian team, both of their warm-up matches were washed out without a ball getting bowled. They will start their World Cup campaign with a match against Australia at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, Tamil Nadu on October 8.
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