Former Indian coach and all-rounder Ravi Shastri said on Monday that Men in Blue's ICC Cricket World Cup loss at home earlier this month still hurts, but he sees them winning a World Cup soon. He said India will be a serious challenger for the ICC T20 World Cup to be held in West Indies/USA next year in June.
Ravi Shastri was speaking at the launch event of Indian Street Premier League (ISPL), the country's first-ever T10 tennis ball cricket tournament, which will be held inside a stadium in March next year.
"It was heartbreaking. It still hurts because we were the strongest team. But the game moves on. Nothing comes easy. You have to be really good on two big days (semis and final) to win the tournament," he told the media at the league's launch event.
"I see India winning a World Cup very soon, it might not be the 50 over that easily because you have to again rebuild the side. Twenty-over cricket, the very next one India will be a very serious challenger because they have the youth and nucleus. This is the shortest format of the game, so your focus should be on that direction," he added.
India, the only unbeaten team in the World Cup, lost the final to Australia earlier this month.
Team India's consistent struggles in knockout stages:
India lost in the final of the 2014 ICC T20 World Cup, 2017 Champions Trophy, 2021 and 2023 World Test Championships. India lost in the semis of the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup and 2015, and 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup and exited the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 in group stages.
However, the 2023 World Cup defeat would have hurt the Men in Blue the most, given they were firm favourites and had dominated the league stage and semi-finals thoroughly.
(With inputs from ANI)
