“I used to treat it very much like an India-Australia,” Sourav Ganguly explains how he dealt with high pressures during India-Pakistan matches

Ganguly also emphasised Pakistan is a big team but playing against India in front of a packed stadium in Ahmedabad will be a completely different experience.

“I used to treat it very much like an India-Australia,” Sourav Ganguly explains how he dealt with high pressures during India-Pakistan matches

Sourav Ganguly (Image via ESPNcricinfo)

Like many, former India captain Sourav Ganguly also admitted that the India-Pakistan match will always be a high-voltage clash. For him, the match feels as if it’s between India and Australia or India and South Africa.

The much-awaited match between arch-rivals in the ongoing Asia Cup will be on Saturday (September 2), in Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy, Sri Lanka. The arch-rivals will meet on October 14 for the 2023 World Cup at the iconic Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

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The 51-year-old explained that the players often saw the India-Pakistan game as “just a game” as a way to deal with the pressure of playing the India-Pakistan game. Even current cricketers says the same thing about how, they cut the outside noise, so that they can focus on their game in that high-pressure game.

Sourav Ganguly quoted, “I used to treat it very much like an India-Australia, India-South Africa contest. You can’t let the occasion get to you because that’s when you tend to lose focus.” Ganguly also emphasised Pakistan is a big team but playing against India in front of a packed stadium in Ahmedabad will be a completely different experience.

Related: Much-awaited India-Pakistan in 2023 Asia Cup may NOT happen! Know the reason why

Saurav Ganguly’s thought on Australia in World Cup

mitchell marsh of australia celebrates1
Australian Team (Image via NDTV)

Sourav Ganguly believes Australia are a strong team, but not as good as the 2003 World Cup winners in South Africa. The former BCCI chief spoke on India’s World Cup 2023 opener against Australia. The ODI World Cup will be held in India from October 5-November 19. The event will begin with a reminder of the 2019 final between England and New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

The India-Australia match will be played on October 8 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Ganguly said the Men in Blue can beat Australia with Boria backstage at Revsports. In the 2019 World Cup, India defeated Australia by 36 runs at the Oval. Shikhar Dhawan’s 117 and Virat Kohli’s 82 helped India reach 352/5. Yuzvendra Chahal took two and Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah took three wickets each to bowl out Australia for 316 runs.

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