India would have won World Cup if final hadn't happened at Ahmedabad: Mamata Banerjee and Akhilesh Yadav

India would have won the cricket World Cup if the final match was played in Kolkata, Mumbai or Lucknow instead of Ahmedabad, claim India’s top politicians. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said that India, who lost the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday to Australia, would have won the summit clash had it taken place in Kolkata or Mumbai. Addressing party workers at the Netaji Indoor Stadium here, she alleged that attempts were being to “saffronise” the country’s cricket team. “They are trying to paint the entire country saffron. We are proud of our Indian players, and I believe that we would have won the World Cup if the finals had taken place in Kolkata or Wankhede (in Mumbai),” she said. “They even tried to saffronise the team by introducing saffron practice jerseys. The players resisted, and as a result, they did not have to wear those jerseys during the matches,” she added.

VIDEO | "If (World Cup) final would have been in Eden Gardens (Kolkata) or Wankhede (Mumbai), we would have won the match," said West Bengal CM @MamataOfficial in Kolkata. pic.twitter.com/WHIEBcs5VO

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 23, 2023

Continuing her attack on the BJP, Banerjee said that wherever sinners go, they take along their sins. “The Indian team played so well that they won all the matches in the World Cup, except the one attended by the sinners,” she said, without naming anyone. Earlier, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, in a poll speech in Rajasthan, had used the ‘panauti’ barb against PM Narendra Modi as he had attended the World Cup final which India lost to Australia after 10 consecutive wins in the tournament. Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had on Tuesday claimed that India would have the 2023 World Cup had the final taken place in Lucknow. “The match (World Cup 2023 final) that took place in Gujarat, if it had happened in Lucknow, they (team India) would have got the blessings of so many… If the match had happened there (Lucknow), team India would have got the blessings of Lord Vishnu and Atal Bihari Vajpayee and India would have won…,” the SP chief said at a meeting in Etawah. Lucknow’s international cricket stadium was named ‘Ekana’, one of the many names of Lord Vishnu, by Akhilesh Yadav’s government but it was named ‘Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium’ by the current BJP government under Yogi Adityanath. With PTI inputs