Cricket World Cup 2023: Sunil Gavaskar Says India Will Want To Play New Zealand In Semi-Finals, Not Pakistan

The race for the final spot of Cricket World Cup 2023 has intensified. New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka battle it out in a three-way battle for the same. A win for New Zealand will pretty much guarantee them a place in the semis. If Pakistan and Afghanistan win their respective last league games by a big margin only then can they contest the Black Caps. At the time of writing of this article, the Kiwis were cruising in the 172-run chase vs Sri Lankans.

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Whoever makes the semi-finals will take the fourth spot in the points table at the end of the league stage. India are on top followed by either Australia or South Africa. New Zealand or Pakistan or Afghanistan will be the fourth semi-finalist. In the semi-finals, the number 2 will play number 3. In this case, Australia and South Africa are playing each other in the second semi-final. And Number 1 plays number 4, which means India will play the fourth team.

There is a chance of an India vs Pakistan clash. If that happens, then India will play the semi-final at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. That is what the International Cricket Council (ICC) said in the release when they annouced fulls schedule of the Cricket World Cup. 

Former India batter and one of the greats Sunil Gavaskar says that India are playing the tournament with sheer dominance but they would not want to play Pakistan in the semi-finals. Gavaskar feels that playing Pakistan in the semis will put extra pressure on the Indian side which they will not want. 

"If Pakistan qualifies, pressure will be a little more on Indians than anybody else. New Zealand win will probably be what Indians will want," said Gavaskar during his commentary stint in the New Zealand vs Sri Lanka match.

Watch the video of Sunil Gavaskar saying the same on air below (ignore the primary X post that has fake Gavaskar's quotes).

He just said it again.

Sunny G didn't hold back againpic.twitter.com/wnwTyeKcgP https://t.co/v2p6XWijXp — Zak (@Zakr1a) November 9, 2023

Team India have been in great form of late. They have won all eight matches in the league stage so far. The wins have been dominant ones too. Except New Zealand, no team really gave any challenge to India whatsoever. Rohit Sharma and Co now meet Netherlands in their last league match. They will aim to make it 9 out 9 going into the semis. New Zealand's former cricketer Simon Doull says that while India have dominated the league stage, all that matters now are the two games in the knockouts.