Team India is on top of the points table at the moment in the ongoing World Cup. The hosts have won all their three matches so far pretty convincingly and under Rohit Sharma's captaincy, the side is looking a team to beat. Apart from India, only South Africa are unbeaten in World Cup 2023 so far. Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting believes India is a team to beat and have all their bases covered.
"I said from the start that I think they're going to be the team to beat. They've got a very talented team. They've got all bases covered with their fast bowling, their spin and their top-order, middle-order batting. They're going to be extremely hard to beat. But we'll see how they hold up under extreme pressure as well," Ponting said while speaking to the ICC.
He also opened up on Rohit Sharma's laid-back approach and how it helps India most of the teams while also lauding the skipper for doing a fine job being at the helm. Rohit took over the reins of the Indian team from Virat Kohli in December 2021 in white-ball formats. "He's very laid back, Rohit. Very laid back with everything he does. You can even see that by the way that he plays. He's a pretty laconic sort of batsman as well, and that's the way he is both on and off the field.
"Someone like Virat, who is a bit more heart-on-the-sleeve, and probably listens to the fans and plays up with the fans a little bit more, someone with his personality would probably find it a bit harder. But I think Rohit will be fine with it. He's a terrific bloke and has been a great player for a long time, and he's done a great job as leader of India," Ponting added. The former World Cup winning captain also conceded that India will feel enormous pressure of winning the tournament being the hosts but backed Rohit and his men to cope with it.
"We can't sit back and say that the pressure won't get to them (India) at some stage, or it won't affect them, because it will, just with the enormity of the tournament. But he'll (Rohit) take it and cope with it as well as probably anyone," Ponting further said.
