Team India is off to a dream start in the ODI World Cup 2023 with emphatic victories over Australia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. India was already considered as one of the favorites to lift the trophy before the start of the tournament and following their performance in the first three matches, it didn’t take long for the hosts to earn the ‘team to beat’ label. Men in Blue are preparing themselves for their next battle against Bangladesh at the Maharashtra Cricket Stadium on October 19, Thursday.

Former Australia great Ricky Ponting feels the Men in Blue will be an “extremely hard” team to beat because of their ability to stand up well under intense pressure. I said from the start that I think they are going to be the team to beat. They’ve got a very talented team. They’ve got all bases covered with their fast bowling, their spin, and their top-order, middle-order batting, Ponting said.

At the same time, the batting legend also added that it might take just one bad game for the pressure to rise on India in front of their home crowd. With the individual players that they have got it’s going take one bad game as a team and as an individual for the pressure to rise. Obviously, they’ve got off to a great start and they will be happy with that, Ponting expressed.

We can’t sit back and say that the pressure won’t get to them at some stage, or it won’t affect them, because it will, just with the enormity of the tournament, Ponting concluded. India still has tough matches against England, New Zealand, and South Africa.