'Not mental pressure but all about...': Sourav Ganguly on India's failure at ICC tournaments

Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly is hopeful that India will "cross the line" at this year's ICC ODI World Cup, scheduled to start from October. As India hosts the tournament, the spotlight is again on Team India's failure to win an ICC troply since 2013, when MS Dhoni-led side had won the Champions Trophy.

Sourav Ganguly, in an interview to RevSportz, said that be believes Team India's struggle at knockout matches of major events is not due to "mental pressure" on the players.

"I don’t think pressure is an issue. We don’t perform well sometimes, in crucial phases. I don’t feel it is mental pressure, but all about execution. They are mentally strong people. Hopefully, they will cross the line soon," he said.

The former BCCI president who turned 51 recently said that though there will be pressure on skipper Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid, "they will find a way to succeed." He cited Rohit Sharma's record of hitting 5 centuries in the 2019 World Cup in England and Mumbai Indians winning 5 IPL titles under his leadership. And during "Rahul Dravid’s playing days, there was pressure to perform," Ganguly said.

"Hopefully, he (Rohit Sharma) can do it for India in this World Cup," he said.

Ganguly himself knows what is to play under pressure and succeed. The records speak. He has played 34 ICC tournament matches for India, scoring 1,671 runs at an average of 61.88 across 32 innings. He has scored seven centuries and six half-centuries at ICC tournaments, with a best score of 183.

2007 ICC Cricket World Cup marked Ganguly's final World Cup appearance and India was out in round one itself. But in three matches Ganguly scored 162 runs in three matches at an average of 54.00, with two fifties and the best score of 89.

Apart from India, Ganguly bets that Australia, England, New Zealand and Pakistan have a good chance of making it to the semis at this year's World Cup.