World Cup 2023: We are playing cricket like legitimate champions – Aakash Chopra on India’s domination in rankings

With Shubman Gill and Mohammed Siraj rising to the numero uno positions in ICC ODI rankings, former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra said India is playing cricket like legitimate champions. India is the number one team across all three formats in the rankings table.

India has been at its best in the ongoing World Cup as they have won all of their eight matches. The Rohit Sharma-led team is the only unbeaten side in the tournament and they have consistently come up with collective efforts with both bat and ball.

India have been relentless in their approach and have not given an inch to the opposition. The likes of Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj have all delivered for the team.

Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel, “The Indian team is at No. 1 in every ranking – No. 1 in ODIs, Tests and T20Is. No. 1 ODI batter – Shubman Gill, No. 1 T20I batter – Suryakumar Yadav, No. 1 ODI bowler – Mohammed Siraj, No. 1 Test all-rounder – Ravindra Jadeja, all are ours.”

The former India opener added: “We are not letting anyone come close. We are not only playing like No. 1, we are ranked No. 1 as well. We are playing cricket like legitimate champions – not only in one format but in all three formats. If we had an awards night now, our team would have got all the awards.”

On the other hand, the renowned commentator also shed light on Angelo Mathews’ controversial ‘Timed-Out’ dismissal. Chopra reckons Mathews shouldn’t have put the proof of him getting ready on time on social media as it has no relevance.

“Angelo Mathews has added a little spice. He has put a video that shows he was ready in 1 minute and 54 seconds. He said – ‘I rest my case’. Six seconds were left when the strap got broken. The question is whether he would have been ready in that or not, but it’s irrelevant.”

“Firstly, Bangladesh shouldn’t have done it. Behave yourself, honestly. The umpires could have also said that it’s okay. It can be carelessness but it wasn’t cheating. There is an ethical debate about the run-out at the non-striker’s end because one guy is cheating there.”

India will next take on the Netherlands at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on Sunday.