India will have to wait for another three World Cups if they don't win it this time: Ravi Shastri

India’s former head coach Ravi Shastri suggests that if India cannot maintain their dominant performance in the ongoing World Cup, they may need to wait for another three tournaments before having a chance at the title. Speaking on the Club Prairie Fire podcast alongside Adam Gilchrist and Michael Vaughan, Shastri highlighted that the current squad, with a majority of players at their peak, presents India's best opportunity to end their ICC title drought.

Expressing concern about the time elapsed since India's last World Cup victory, Shastri stated, "This country is going mad. The last time they won it was 12 years ago. They have an opportunity to do it again. The way they are playing, this is probably their best chance." The former India head coach warned that if they miss out this time, they might have to wait for another three World Cups before having a realistic shot at winning.

"If they miss out this time, they would probably have to wait another three World Cups for even thinking of trying to win it. The pool of players are such the 7-8 players are at their peak. This could well be their last World Cup. The way they are playing, given the conditions, they have got the team to win it," he added.

Shastri praised the Indian bowling attack, hailing it as the best the country has ever had. He credited the extraordinary performance to the bowlers' consistency and understanding of the conditions.

According to Shastri, the pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Mohammed Siraj, along with the spin combination of Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav, has been relentless in causing trouble for opponents. He highlighted their precision in targeting the stumps and commended their seam positions. “It is the best attack in 50 years ever since white-ball cricket started," he added.