Published 12:32 IST, May 16th 2020
Kevin Pietersen counters Rohit Sharma by calling England bigger threat than India in ODIs
Kevin Pietersen said that India always go in as favourites in a World Cup, as one of the top two teams, they go there with a lot of expectations.
- SportFit
- 3 min read
Former England cricket captain Kevin Pietersen was a flamboyant batsman, who was famous for his unorthodox and audacious shots. The 39-year-old was a crucial member of the 2010 T20 World Cup-winning squad. Kevin Pietersen also bagged the 'Player of the Tournament' award in that edition.
Kevin Pietersen responds to Rohit Sharma's statement about India winning at least two World Cups
The Englishman is also renowned for voicing out his opinion and giving bold statements on different topics on social media. Because of his outrageous comments, Kevin Pietersen has found himself amidst a lot of controversies. Kevin Pietersen was at it once again as he had his say on Rohit Sharma’s expectation from India to win two out of the next three World Cups.
On Tuesday, Rohit Sharma said that India must win two World Cups in the coming three years while chatting with his teammate Suresh Raina during an Instagram live session. Rohit Sharma elaborated on his comment saying that India has an opportunity and must win at least two World Cups, as there are three championships lined up in the coming three years: 2 T20 World Cups and one 50-over World Cup.
Responding to Rohit Sharma's statement, Kevin Pietersen said that India always go in as favourites in a World Cup, as one of the top two teams, they go there with a lot of expectations. Kevin Pietersen added that it’s good to see that they want to go out and win these next couple of tournaments. However, Pietersen finds his home country England to be very difficult to beat in the white-ball game.
England have upped their ante in white-ball cricket after a disastrous 2015 World Cup campaign in Australia and New Zealand. With more England players allowed to play in the IPL ever since and white-ball cricket being given the top-most priority by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), the national side paid off the faith given to them under Eoin Morgan's leadership. England went on make it to the ICC World T20 2016 final in India and win the ICC World Cup 2019 on home soil for the first time ever in its cricketing history.
On the other hand, the Indian cricket team haven't quite managed to bring their A-game in recent times when it comes to performing in knockout matches off ICC events. Since 2013, they have made it to the knockout stages on more than one occasion but cannot seem to go past that. In World Cup 2019, a similar fate transpired. India were slight favourites to upstage New Zealand in the semi-final. However, they fell 10 runs short in a low-scoring encounter.
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IMAGE COURTESY: KEVIN PIETERSEN INSTAGRAM
Updated 12:32 IST, May 16th 2020