The Indian Cricket Team appears to be an invincible force, having won all of their ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 matches so far. India are on the verge of securing their business-class ticket for the semi-finals. Just a formality remains, as the Rohit Sharma-led Men in Blue Avengers have upcoming matches against the defending champions England in Lucknow, the 1996 World Champions Sri Lanka in Mumbai, the formidable Proteas in Kolkata, and a match against the Dutch on the day of Diwali, which will also be the last league stage match of the marquee tournament.
Before the Asia Cup 2023, the Indian Team was looking like a defeatable side, but as soon as the tournament began, they emerged as nightmares for their opponents as their caravan is unstoppable at the moment. Since the start of the Asia Cup, India has only lost two matches out of 14 to date, one against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup 2023, and one against Australia in the Bilateral series held in India just before the World Cup 23.
Nevertheless, despite their glorious performance in the World Cup, some of the Indian Cricket Team fans have been worried that a particular day may come. The black days, such as the 2015 World Cup semi-finals against Australia and the 2019 World Cup semi-finals against New Zealand, still haunt the stakeholders of Indian Cricket. In both quadrennial tournaments, India performed exceptionally well, but in some crunch moments in the knockouts, the Men in Blue lost the sub-plots leading to their heartbreaking elimination from the 2015 and 2019 World Cups.
But this time, the Modern Day Great Virat Kohli and Indian Captain Rohit Sharma, alongside wicketkeeper-batsman KL Rahul, are running the show with great support from bowlers such as Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, and Kuldeep Yadav. Not to forget Mohammed Shami, who played just one match in the ongoing tournament against New Zealand but created a significant impact with his five-wicket haul. The main question mark is whether Team India, this time, after 12 years, in their backyard, can handle that crunch moment in the knockouts.
Similarities B/W 2015/19/23 World Cup Campaigns of India
Talking about the similarities in the last two World Cup editions with the ongoing one, India, just like in 2023, has its love affair with the group stage matches as the men in blue lost only one single group stage match to England in the previous edition (2019) at Birmingham. Another similarity was that in 2015, MS Dhoni led the team India, in 2019 Kohli was India’s leader, and in the 2023 World Cup, Rohit was commanding the team.
In 2019, the over-dependency on Rohit Sharma was one of the main factors that led to the downfall of India in the semi-finals against New Zealand. Rohit, in the last edition of the World Cup ’19, scored 648 runs in 9 innings with an average of 81, which includes 5 centuries and 1 fifty. Kohli scored 443 runs, whereas KL Rahul scored 361 runs. The top 3 batsmen accumulated 1452 runs together, and with that, the lower-middle order went untested into the semi-finals. And on the day of the semis, when the responsibility came to the middle order, they crumbled and couldn’t absorb the pressure of that crunch moment.
The same is happening in the ongoing tournament in which Virat Kohli is emerging as the Mr. Dependable in the Team. No doubt KL Rahul is enjoying the form of his life, and Rohit is looking monstrous while opening the innings, but the one player who has yet to deal with the crunch situation is Shreyas Iyer, who threw away his wicket in the matches against Australia, Bangladesh, and New Zealand. The short ball foible of Iyer has come back, and the opposition is well aware of his weakness. Kohli in WC ’23 so far has been playing with an average of 118, having accumulated 354 runs in 5 innings, including 3 fifties and one century.
However, the main difference between the last two WCs and the latest one is that this time the team combination is so much sorted, like a Rubik’s cube, as the team management is crystal clear about their playing XI ahead of every match. In Chennai against Australia, Ravichandran Ashwin got a nod ahead of all-rounder Shardul Thakur, but as soon as the team traveled from Chennai to Delhi to play against Afghanistan, Thakur was replaced by veteran Ashwin.
Happy Fast Bowling Headache for Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid
It will be safe to say that it is India’s pace bowling that is restricting the opposition to below 300 runs, as only 273 runs scored by New Zealand batsmen was the highest total registered against India in the WC ’23, which will allow the batsmen to chase down the target quite comfortably and in a hurry. But India still needs to settle on the one perfect fast-bowling combination ahead of the knockout matches.
In the fast bowling department, India has Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur, and Hardik Pandya. Bumrah, Siraj, and Pandya will always find their names in the playing XI sheet, as there will be a headache for Rohit to choose between Thakur, who can provide some handy runs in the lower-middle order, or Shami, who has the raw pace that can send opposition wickets cartwheeling, as previously seen against the Blackcaps.
Verdict
India needs to test their middle order as soon as possible to avoid last-minute panic in crunch moments, and that can only happen if Kohli Rahul, or Rohit could take a rest in a match against Sri Lanka or the Netherlands. Shubman Gill is also the one whose big hundred is due in this tournament, as, before the WC, he set white-ball cricket on fire with his elegant style of play.
Additionally, a perfect and settled bowling combination is the demand of the hour, as the team management will have to decide between Thakur and Shami for the fourth fast bowler. Apart from Thakur and Shami, off-spinner Ashwin is the one who could get a chance to play at Eden Gardens in Kolkata against Proteas, as the Kolkata pitch from the past few years has helped the spinner more often than pacers.