Published 19:34 IST, July 1st 2019
WATCH: India remains Sanjay Manjrekar's top pick to win the World Cup; here's his view after the England match
After enjoying an undisputed run in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, Team India suffered their first defeat against the hosts England by 31 runs at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Sunday.
After enjoying an undisputed run in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, Team India suffered their first defeat against the hosts England by 31 runs at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Sunday. The Men In Blue will now be locking horns against a spirited Bangladesh side at the same ground on Tuesday. At the same time, Bangladesh will also be looking to win this match and keep their semifinal hopes alive. The Mashrafe Mortaza-led side are at the sixth spot in the points table with three wins and three losses and seven points in their tally.
Ahead of the clash against the two Asian giants, former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has come forward and has tipped India to win the World Cup as they are not only the World number one side but are also the best ODI team in the world.
"India is the best team in the world. India is the best team in the tournament as it has got all the boxes ticked. I know there is a little soft underbelly in the middle order but temperamentally, India is by far the best team in the tournament."
Manjrekar also added that in World Cups, there was nothing more important than temperament. At the same time, he also highlighted that India have won five matches and just lost one.
The ex-Mumbai batsman also mentioned about the change that he would like to see in India's 2011 World Cup-winning captain MS Dhoni heading into the future games.
"Dhoni has had a couple of innings where he has not delivered. I was a little disappointed with the approach in the last 5 or 6 overs (during India's run chase against England.)"
However, the cricketer-turned-commentator believed that it was ridiculous of thinking about dropping Dhoni as Dhoni actually defined the culture of the Indian team along with Virat Kohli and Dhoni's presence in a big pressure tournament like the World Cup is almost indispensable.
"I would like to see Dhoni bat the way he did in the warm-up matches preceding the official matches where his first 20 runs came in 20 balls. That is the only thing that Dhoni needs to do or the team management to let him know that whatever your intentions eventually are, first 25-30 runs should come in as many balls as possible."
Updated 20:19 IST, July 1st 2019