This side better prepared than 1983 squad, says Gavaskar

[DesiChap]

Mumbai: To the legendary Sunil Gavaskar, part of the 1983 squad, the current Indian team appears better prepared than their World Cup-winning side. ?This team is much better prepared than ours in 1983 because of the sheer volume of one-day cricket that it has played against almost all the opponents. I am not saying this is a better team, please do not misquote me,? Gavaskar said after giving his best wishes to Rahul Dravid and Co. through a written message on a giant cricket bat here. The iconic Gavaskar wrote ?best wishes. God bless!? and lent his autograph to an 18-foot ?Ceat Cricket Ratings Billion Man Bat?. He said the World Cup belonged to India owing to the sheer passion for the game here. ?No other country shows so much passion. This cup belongs to India. I want Rahul and his boys to regain the cup. The team has flexibility in opening combinations with five, including Dravid himself, having the ability to do the job. ?Like in 1983, when we had Madanlal, Roger Binny and Jimmy (Mohinder) Amarnath, this team too has Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh (all leading batsmen) who can bowl,? he said. Only a few days ago in Calcutta, the legendary opener had spoken of Sourav Ganguly?s passion for the game and how his starts could play a big role in India?s fortunes during the quadrennial showpiece in the West Indies. The former India captain also pointed out that defending champions Australia have lost their aura of invincibility following five successive losses and drew a parallel with his team of the 1980s. ?We defeated (the all conquering) West Indies in 1983 at Berbice (in Guyana) and then started believing that they were beatable. Now Australia have similarly lost their aura of invincibility after their recent losses,? Gavaskar said. The Little Master, the first man to make 10,000 runs in Test cricket, was referring to their surprise victory over the West Indies when India visited the Caribbean for a bilateral series just before the 1983 World Cup in England. Gavaskar also said that five bowlers would give extra options to Dravid. ?The white ball generally stops swinging after seven or eight overs or even less depending on the outfield in the West Indies. Rahul has that many options to play around,? he said. On how many marks he would give India on a scale of 10 in winning the coveted title, Gavaskar said after a little thought: ?Nine out of 10. And I am saying this seriously.? When asked why not 10 out of 10, ?That?s because of the glorious uncertainties of the game,? he replied. (PTI)

[yoda]

Re: This side better prepared than 1983 squad, says Gavaskar i think sunny is talking about himself. [code:0b0deb3ffa] Prudential World Cup (Aus/Eng/Ind/NZ/Pak/SL/WI/Zim) in England, 1983 [Tournament] Ind 6 6 0 59 25 19 9 9.83 0 0 1[/code:1:0b0deb3ffa]