'How India Hold up Under Pressure..': Ricky Ponting Issues World Cup Warning to Rohit Sharma's Men in Blue

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has issued a warning for the Indian team even as they are in the midst of a purple patch having won three matches at the ICC ODI World Cup 2023. Rohit Sharma-led Indian team are sitting pretty atop the World Cup points table with three wins in the bag, but Ponting feels that things could go wrong in just one game, given the ‘pressure’ on the hosts.

The Men in Blue got their World Cup campaign underway in some style as they defeated Australia by 7 wickets in Chennai, followed by another comprehensive 8-wicket win over Afghanistan in Delhi.

The Indian team then squared off against arch-rivals Pakistan in Ahmedabad and dished out a clinical display as they picked up a 7-wicket win to jump to the top of the points table.

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Everything that could go right has gone right for the Men in Blue and things seem to have fallen into place very well. However, ahead of their next outing against Bangladesh, Ponting, who himself led Australia to two World Cup titles has issued a piece of advice for Rohit Sharma and Co.

“With the individual players that they have got it’s going take one bad game as a team and as an individual for the pressure to rise. Obviously, they’ve got off to a great start and they will be happy with that,” the Aussie legend told ICC.

Ponting opines that India will be the team to beat in home conditions, and they have all bases covered but how they will respond to pressure when things go wrong will define the legacy of the current crop of players.

“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 added.

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While India still have to face off against the likes of New Zealand and South Africa, two teams who have been in red-hot form, they will take on a Bangladesh unit next in Pune where the first World Cup game will be played.

It remains to be seen how the outfield will behave at the MCA Stadium, although Virat Kohli seemed to have a lot of fun during India’s optional training session on the pitch, smashing plenty of sixes during the net session.