"This is as good a chance as any for India" - Ian Bishop on winning ICC World Cup 2023 in home conditions
The Indian men's cricket team has not achieved any major success in the International Cricket Council (ICC) tournaments for a decade. The Men in Blue won the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013 in England under the leadership of MS Dhoni.
Since then, India have played four semifinals and four finals across formats of ICC events but haven't managed to add any silverware to their cabinet.
In an interaction with RevSportz, Ian Bishop pointed out that the upcoming 2023 World Cup will be the best opportunity for Rohit Sharma & Co. to end their title drought on the virtue of being the hosts.
Bishop said:
"I think it's a chance you would rather have because you know the conditions better than anyone else. Even though maybe some of the seam bowling options you want to improve."
He continued:
"But from a batting perspective, there is so much dynamism and so many different options they're knowing the conditions. I would think this is as good a chance as any for India to cement that position and get to an ICC title."
"Those two are critical things" - Ian Bishop on India stumbling in ICC knockout matches
India qualified for both the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) finals only to end up as runners-up against New Zealand (2021) and Australia (2023).
While mentioning about the hindrance that India face during the knockout games of ICC events, Bishop said:
"I think if you are talking (about) the WTC, you're probably thinking have all the requisite players have been available at critical points in time. You can perhaps look at ideal preparations when they play New Zealand. New Zealand were playing a Test series in England just prior to that. Australia had been in England for a longer period prior to that."
He continued:
"Those two are critical things, especially if they are going to do this sort of final and championship in the UK. That's a place you have to acclimate yourself in a better capacity for leading up to that."
Bishop further added:
"When it comes to the white-ball formats, I think they needed a little bit of tweaking in the shortest format with more dynamism and more aggressive leadership."
India will play their first game of the ICC World Cup 2023 on October 8 against Australia at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.