Nasser Hussain feels India could look for a payback against Australia in the ODI World Cup 2023 opener (Twitter Image)
Nasser Hussain picked India and Australia as the two teams who could reach the knockouts of the ICC ODI World Cup 2023
Former England great Nasser Hussain made a rather bombastic claim by saying that the Indian team might be looking for a payback when they open their ODI World Cup 2023 campaign against Australia in Chennai on October 8 after suffering a defeat at the hands of their opponents in the World Test Championship (WTC) final earlier this month.
The ICC ODI World Cup 2023 full schedule was announced by the governing body at an event hosted in Mumbai on June 27, Tuesday as hosts India kick-start their campaign against the Australian side. While Hussain feels that it could be ‘payback’ time when India take on Australia, Ricky Ponting, the former Aussie captain feels that the conditions in Chennai would certainly favour the Indian side.
Speaking to ICC in a promo shared 100 days before the start of the showpiece event, the two legends of the sport previewed the India-Australia clash which would mark the start of the journey of the two powerhouses of world cricket.
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“It’d be a great spectacle that’s one thing I do know, what a great opening game for Australia to be able to play the host nation in a venue like Chennai,” said Ponting.
“The upgrade of the stadium is awesome, we know what we can expect from the wicket there, it’s probably be a little bit on the slower side and probably there’s going to be a bit of spin. But the Australians will have the time to get there and get prepared for that conditions wise they’d favour India but Australia have got a very proud record of white-ball cricket in the subcontinent so I’m sure they’ll probably go into that game very confident,” the legendary Australian captain added.
Hussain meanwhile picked both India and Australia among the two sides who could qualify for the knockouts of the ODI World Cup 2023.
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“Massive occasion, two brilliant sides, India the hosts against Australia, maybe a bit of paycheck for the WTC final, these two sides will be there I reckon in the knockout stages, a great venue to have the two of the biggest names in world cricket,” said Hussain.