As the International Cricket Council announced the schedule for the ICC ODI World Cup 2023, former India cricketer Virender Sehwag sat in the broadcaster’s studio to share some interesting anecdotes from his career as a cricketer.
Sharing an intriguing story from India’s triumphant 2011 World Cup-winning campaign, Sehwag said that MS Dhoni, the skipper of the Indian team in that edition of the tournament, only ate Khichdi as a superstition. Also, it wasn’t just Dhoni who was involved in superstitions as India went on a roll in the tournament. In a chat on Star Sports after the ODI World Cup 2023 schedule announcement, Sehwag revealed that though Dhoni’s form with the bat wasn’t the best for the most part of the tournament, he continued with the superstition of eating ‘Khichdi’ as India were winning their matches.
‘Everyone was having some or the other superstition, and everyone was following theirs. MS Dhoni had a superstition of having ‘khichdi’ all through the World Cup’, said Sehwag. ‘He used to say that even if I’m not scoring runs but this superstition is working, and we’re winning matches’.
A total of 10 teams will feature in what will be the biggest Cricket World Cup ever, to be played across 10 venues from 5 October to 19 November, with the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad hosting the tournament opener and the final. The other nine venues are Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Dharamsala, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Pune. Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram will join Hyderabad in hosting the practice games.
Defending champions England will take on New Zealand in a much-awaited clash between the 2019 World Cup finalists that opens the tournament in Ahmedabad, while hosts India will face-off against five-time winners Australia in Chennai on 8 October. Ahmedabad will also host matches between traditional rivals India and Pakistan (15 October) and Australia and England (4 November). Eight teams have qualified for the 46-day event through the Cricket World Cup Super League while the final two spots will be taken by the finalists of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier taking place in Zimbabwe.
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