India favourites for 2019 World Cup: Ganguly

New Delhi :  Former skipper Sourav Ganguly believes India will go to any World Cup as favourites, whether they win or not, thanks to their consistency and quality.

The cricketing great said that India was one of the title contenders in the 2003, 2007 editions of the World Cups and went on to lift the trophy in 2011.

Speaking at the launch of his autobiography- ‘A Century is Not Enough’ at a city hotel, Ganguly said,”I don’t believe in the word ‘best’ as different teams play well under different situations but we have a side which is very strong.

“We went to 2003 and 2007 World Cups as favourites, in 2011 we won and even now. It’s all because of the culture of Indian cricket and the quality which comes out every time which makes Indian cricket special,” the former skipper added.

While in the 2003 World Cup, India finished runner-up to Australia, in the next edition, they suffered an annihilating group stage exit in the Caribbean.

Ganguly’s former teammates, Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh, who were also present at the occasion, said the men in blue will come out victorious in the 2019 Cricket World Cup.

Asked to make a comparison between Sachin Tendulkar and current India skipper Virat Kohli, Ganguly opined, “We don’t compare generations. Indian cricket is fortunate to see both of them.”

“Every generation has produced champions. When Gavaskar (Sunil) finished, people thought who would take his place and then Sachin came. Later Dravid (Rahul) followed Sachin and look we now have Kohli,” said the 45-year-old.

Commenting on his book, Ganguly said: “I thought there is nothing about me which the country doesn’t know. So, I felt to write something which would one day come as a help for young cricketers.”

“The title of my book ‘A Century is Not Enough’ means that just by scoring runs one cannot be a champion at top level as a cricketer has to go through various ups and downs in his life,” said Ganguly.

Published on April 30, 2018 at 21:46 IST

IANS