All-rounders are the key element – Sunil Gavaskar highlights crucial component for success in the World Cup

India will be hoping to entertain home fans as the ODI World Cup returns to the country after a staggering wait of 12 years, and that also means that it is going to be everything but easy for the Men in Blue.

Despite having a star-studded side, if there is one aspect of the Indian cricket team that will need some pondering over, that is their all-rounders’ department. With a dearth of all-rounders, former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar believes that luck needs to play a crucial role if India are to go all the way in the World Cup 2023.

Talking about the key component in terms of success in the big tournaments, Gavaskar said, “More than anything else, luck of the day is very important and if you look at the teams (in 1983, 1985 and 2011), they all had top class all-rounders. You had batters who could bowl 7-8-9 overs and bowlers who could bat down the order. That was the biggest plus of those teams. You see MSD’s team also: Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag could all bowl. It was the biggest plus. So, any team which has all-rounders (will hold the edge).”

He further added, “You look at England who won last year's T20 World Cup, look at the all-rounders they had. So, all-rounders are the key element.” 

Gavaskar further dropped in a sharp assessment of what makes a successful captain, and talking about Rohit Sharma, he said, “At the end of the day you are judged by the number of trophies you have won, the numbers of wins you have. Winning these two tournaments will make him one of India’s greatest skippers.”