‘There is a lot of hype in this match but….’ – Sourav Ganguly issues big statement ahead of India vs Pakistan clash in ODI World Cup 2023

India vs Pakistan is arguably one of the fiercest as well as most anticipated rivalries in the cricketing world. It is a mega event not only for fans but also for the tournament. The marquee contest is routinely one of the most thrilling meetings in international cricket because of the rarity of the occasion in the modern era due to political differences between both countries. Both these countries have stopped playing any bilateral series due to geopolitical reasons.

As per the ODI World Cup 2023 schedule which was announced the previous week the India-Pakistan match will be played in Ahmedabad’s largest cricket stadium on October 15 and anticipation for the match has already started to build. Sourav Ganguly, a former captain of India who participated in a number of thrilling India vs. Pakistan World Cup matches in 1999 and 2003, expressed an interesting viewpoint about the rivalry in recent years, contending that India’s dominance over Pakistan has resulted in the quality deteriorating from the past.

“There is a lot of hype in this match but the quality has not been that good for a long time because India kept on winning one-sided. Pakistan probably defeated India for the first time in the T20 World Cup in Dubai,” said the former Indian captain on Star Sports

The former India captain’s certainty on the fact that India will be dominating because in recent times, both the teams have played four games against each other and both the teams have won two games each. Pakistan have, however, undoubtedly earned the more significant victories. In fact, in the ODI format, India have won 10 ODI matches compared to Pakistan’s four since 2010.

Pakistan, however, famously beat India in the 2017 Champions Trophy final, proving they are capable of beating their rivals in the longer format as well. Having said that, there are definitely mixed emotions surrounding Ganguly’s assessment of India-Pakistan matches not being high-quality encounters. India will be kickstarting their World Cup campaign against Australia whereas Pakistan will be starting their campaign against Qualifier 1.