• Source:JND
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JE Sports Desk: Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has mentioned an interesting fact regarding the scheduling of Men in Blue's matches in the upcoming ODI World Cup. International Cricket Council (ICC) revealed the World Cup schedule last week as defending champions England will take on New Zealand in the opening encounter of the mega event at Narendra Modi Stadium on October 5.

India are set to play nine league stage matches to make it to the knockout stages. In the first six games, India will face the likes of Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand and England. Home favourite India will take on five-time winners Australia at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on October 8.

The veteran batter feels facing tough opponents early in the highly competitive tournament gives the advantage to decide what to plan for remaining fixtures.

"Absolutely. It would have been even more difficult if you were to play Australia in a must-win last match. I feel it is always an advantage to play against the good teams first," Gavaskar told Star Sports.

"If you don't get a good result, you have chances later. If you probably play against some weak team later, you will know what you need to do against them and with what margin you need to win."

Gavaskar remembered India's inaugural World Cup-winning journey which he was part of in 1983. India went on to defeat the mighty West Indies two times in the tournament to clinch the maiden title. 

"In 1983 we played the first match against the West Indies. They were the defending champions and we defeated them. It was a two-day game because it had rained and the play resumed on the next day. There also we registered a win. The self-confidence increased because of that as till then our performance in World Cups wasn't anything special. We hadn't won even one match until then," the former India skipper added.

India have lifted any ICC title since the 2013 Champions Trophy under MS Dhoni's captaincy. India came close to adding two World Test Championship titles to their cabinet in 2021 and 2023 but New Zealand and Australia respectively made them settle with the runners-up tag.