Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has said that India winning or losing cricket matches at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad has nothing to do with the venue and depends purely on performances by the team.
The 45-year-old said that India’s loss in the 2023 ODI World Cup final had more to do with Australia playing well and not because the game happened at the venue.
“When two good teams play against each other, one will obviously lose. When India played against Australia (in 2023), Australia were the better team on that particular day. In this game, we saw if you put your right foot forward from ball one, you will get the results. Whatever people used to think, that this ground is a ‘panauti’ (unlucky) or whatsoever I have heard on social media, that is done and dusted now.”
“Lot of people talk about Eden Gardens as well. Eden didn’t have the best of records, but somewhere down the line it changed. Luckily, in our era, we managed to do that. Lot of people talk about this Ahmedabad stadium as well – if the game is happening there, India might lose. But it has nothing to do with the cricketers or the result of the game. It is the mindset of the people who have never played cricket,” Harbhajan told India Today.
Harbhajan’s comments come after fellow India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin also urged supporters not to attach any ‘taboo’ to a particular venue, ahead of the T20 World Cup final against New Zealand.
“You can lose a game at a venue and win the next one. What is there in this? We have won a lot of games in that stadium. Don’t make a stadium like this taboo,” Ashwin said on ‘Ash ki Baat’ while reflecting on the discussions around Ahmedabad ahead of the T20 World Cup final on Sunday.
“I don’t think it should come into the way. I am sure, after a point of time, that monkey on the back will be there. But now, I don’t think the team will be thinking on those lines,” the 106-Test veteran added.
India went on to beat New Zealand in the final by 96 runs to become the first team to successfully defend the T20 World Cup title and become the first side to win three T20 World Cup trophies.
