India finished the 2003 World Cup as the runners-up to Australia. (Source: File Photo)
Sourav Ganguly’s India reached the 2003 World Cup final with the help of a brilliant team but failed to go all the way as Australia won the summit clash. Now, the former India captain has revealed the three players that he would pick from last year’s World Cup squad to better his team.
The side led by Ganguly had experienced top-order batsmen such as Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and himself. While his pace-bowling department had Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Ajit Agarkar, and veteran Javagal Srinath, the spin department was world-class with the inclusions of Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble.
On the other hand, although Virat Kohli’s 2019 team had big names in it too, it failed to even reach the final as they were eliminated by New Zealand in the semi-finals. But, the BCCI president said that there were a few players he would have loved to have in his team 17 years ago.
In a recent BCCI chat show, ‘DadaOpensWithMayank’, host Mayank Agarwal read a question from a fan that said, “Pick three cricketers from India’s World Cup 2019 squad you would have loved to have in your World Cup 2003 squad and give reasons?”
In response, the 113 Tests and 311 ODIs veteran, replied, “[Virat] Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and [Jasprit] Bumrah.”
“We played in South Africa, and although we bowled exceptionally well in that series, the quality [of Bumrah] could have helped us. Rohit would be at the top, and I would be at no. 3. I don’t know maybe Sehwag is listening to this and I might get a phone call tomorrow, ‘What the hell are you thinking?’,” he said.
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Ganguly further added that he would have picked MS Dhoni too.
“MS Dhoni also… but since you gave me three choices, those three are my final names. I would have managed with Rahul Dravid behind the stumps because I think he did a great job in the World Cup,” he said.
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