India vs Australia T20 series: Former Indian team opener Gautam Gambhir often remains in the news for his bold and controversial statements. Gambhir recently made a big claim before the three-match T20 series between India and Australia, starting on Tuesday. Gambhir said that if team India does not manage to beat Australia, then it cannot win the T20 World Cup 2022, later this year.
After Australia, the Indian team will play a T20 series against South Africa starting on 28th September. Both these T20 series will help India in their preparations for T20 World Cup 2022.
Former India opener Gautam Gambhir feels India vs Australia T20 series will be crucial as the Men in Blue won't be able to win T20 WC title if it fails to beat the Aaron Finch-led Australia. He recalled India's success against Australia in the 2007 World T20 and the 2011 ODI, where they won the trophy.
"I have said this earlier and I am saying this again. India cannot win the (T20) World Cup if they do not beat Australia" Gambhir said during a press conference organised by Star Sports.
"I mean, look at the 2007 T20 World Cup. We defeated them in the semi-finals. In the 2011 ODI World Cup, we thrashed them in the quarter-finals. Australia is one of the most competitive teams out there and you will have to beat them if you want to win any competition," he added.
Speaking on under-fire KL Rahul, Gambhir also said that the LSG skipper should be allowed to play freely.
“When you talk about Kohli opening the batting, imagine what happens to KL Rahul... Imagine the amount of insecurity he (Rahul) must be feeling. Imagine if he gets a low score in the first game, there will be another debate on whether Kohli should open in the next game.”
"Imagine KL Rahul going into the World Cup thinking, 'what if I don't score runs against Pakistan? What if I get replaced by Virat Kohli?' You don't want that. We should start thinking about how India can flourish, rather than certain individuals," Gambhir said.