'MS Dhoni only ate Khichdi during 2011 World Cup' - Virender Sehwag reminisces India's superstitious World Cup winning campaign
India will be hosting the ODI World Cup for the first time after 2011.
The much-awaited schedule for the ICC 2023 Men's ODI World Cup has been announced by the International Cricket Council. The ODI extravaganza will kickstart from October 5 onwards with the game between the defending champions England and 2019 runners-up New Zealand in Ahmedabad.
The event will continue for over a month and will culminate with the summit clash on Sunday, November 19 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Eight teams have already made it to the showpiece event and two more will join after the culmination of the ongoing ODI World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe.
With India being the hosts yet again after the 2011 World Cup, Indian fans are expecting the Men in Blue to reclaim the title yet again on home turf. India had clinched the silverware at home in 2011 under the leadership of then skipper MS Dhoni and become the first team in the history of the event to win the title in its own backyard. Reminiscing the same on Star Sports on the occasion of the announcement of the 2023 World Cup schedule, former India opener made a startling revelation about Dhoni.
Sehwag said that Dhoni only ate Khichdi during the 2011 World Cup and everyone in the team was very superstitious about it.
India look to end ICC silverware drought in 2023
The Men in Blue have been copping a lot of criticism for having not won a single ICC title since the ICC Champions Trophy triumph of 2013 that came under the leadership of former skipper Dhoni. Since then India have had numerous opportunities to add more ICC trophies to their cabinet but they haven't been able to accomplish the same.
During the 2019 World Cup, India were gunning to claim their third ODI World Cup title but their campaign came to a screeching halt when they lost to the Kane Williamson-led side in the second semi-final in Manchester after registering a top-order batting collapse.
The Rohit Sharma-led side also had a remarkable opportunity to snap the hoodoo recently when they took on Australia in the final of the World Test Championship (2021-23) cycle but the side faced a crushing 209-run defeat.
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