The countdown for the ODI World Cup 2023 has begun. While there is always a lot of pressure on Team India to perform, this time around there will be immense expectation with the World Cup happening at their own backyard. Moreover, the fact that India's last World Cup triumph also came on Indian soil will add to the hype over India's World Cup campaign with everyone expecting them to win. With a couple of crucial months remaining in the build up to the ODI World Cup, star India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has urged for positivity from fans.

Ashwin has also made a massive claim suggesting that it hard to find a team working as hard as India does. He highlighted how the Men in Blue have managed to qualify for semis in most of their recent world events although they have not been able to lift the trophy. He made a plea for positivity in a recent video uploaded on his YouTube channel.

"All the teams come here to win the tournament. If we don’t win the World Cup, then we move on. If we win, we appreciate them. The least I am asking is, when we get into the 2023 World Cup, let us send the team will full of positivity. Winning a World Cup is not easy. All of us are hindsight kings. It’s not that easy. We have qualified for the semi-finals of almost all major events. On that day, we have not been good enough," Ashwin said.

"What should we do to be good enough on that day? We need lots and lots of positivity. They should feel, “the public has got our back”. They should be able to execute their skill on the particular day. You can never see a hardworking team like India in the world. You should see how hard the players toil in practice sessions, gym and so on," the 36-year-old added.

The ODI World Cup 2023 commences on October 5 but India will begin their play their first match on October 8 against Australia at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.