Former India captain Sourav Ganguly believes star fast-bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya will be vital to maintaining the side’s balance at the 2027 Men’s ODI World Cup in South Africa, adding that keeping him fit and match-ready will be head coach Gautam Gambhir’s biggest off-field challenge leading into the marquee event. The ICC officially launched the schedule for the 2027 Men’s ODI World Cup in Cape Town on Thursday and set the stage for the tournament to commence in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia from October 2 to November 21. Pandya has played two ODI World Cups for India in 2019 and 2023, where he was ruled out of the competition after sustaining an ankle injury in the clash against Bangladesh in Pune.
Having a glance at India’s campaign, Ganguly noted that India opening their campaign against Australia, in what will be a re-match of the 2023 World Cup final, rather than facing arch-rivals Pakistan is a good sign, though he’s more interested in a potential Super 7 clash against a ‘gun’ South African team. Parthiv Patel, the ex-India wicketkeeper-batter who was a part of the Ganguly-led 2003 ODI World Cup team finishing runners-up in South Africa, noted that starting with high-stakes fixtures allows India to fine-tune their combinations and manage key players workloads heading into the business end. Because he is a terrific batter at number seven and is playing against the West Indies currently, jadeja is another option, whether they will look at him,.
“I think Hardik Pandya is very important to India’s balance in the World Cup. That’s one of Gambhir’s and the team’s biggest challenges, to get him fit on the park. I don’t think he plays enough cricket, but for India, the balance has got to be right. If Hardik is injured, the next best option is Nitish Reddy. “But if they have to look at Nitish Reddy as a second option to Hardik Pandya, then he must play all cricket till the World Cup. “I think the ICC has realised that India-Pakistan is no longer the India-Pakistan game in terms of the level of competition. Pakistan is too weak and India have been beating them for a long time. I’m actually looking forward to the India-South Africa game, which will probably take place in the second round. South Africa is a gun team at the moment. “Many of the regulars are not even a part of the squad which is playing Australia at the moment, and they have beaten them. Also, a World Cup in South Africa will be phenomenal. Every ground and every stand was full,” added Ganguly.
I was involved in SA20 last year, and the turnout for the franchise tournament was unreal.
