A year is a long time in the game of cricket. And more often it is eternity for the cricket-crazy India. A year ago, on Thursday, November 10, 2022, in the Semi-final of the T20 World Cup, India was decimated by the demolition squad of Alex Hales and England captain Joe Butler with the final scoreline reading 170-0. When Butler blasted the paceman Mohammad Shami over his head that day for a six, England cruised to the T20 World Cup final vanquishing India by 10 wickets and went on to win the tournament defeating Pakistan by 5 wickets.
The Aftermath
The humiliation heaped on the Indian team robbed Rohit Sharma captaincy of the T20 team. Virat Kohli, the top scorer (296 runs) in the tournament was axed along with KL Rahul and other senior players from the team. The Indian T20 squad got a makeover under new skipper Hardik Pandya, with only one senior above 30 making the cut.
More trouble awaited KL Rahul. In February 2023 after a string of failures with the bat, he was shown the door as Vice-Captain of the Test squad, midway in India’s tour to Australia. Unsurprisingly Rahul also lost his seat on the Test side.
The Injury Galore
Not long ago, the Indian team was saddled with the injury of key players. Bumrah, since the mid-2022, was out with a serious back injury that threatened to end his cricketing career, Rishabh Pant has been recuperating after sustaining grievous injury in a horrifying car accident late last year, Shreyas Iyer was down with a back injury since February 2023, and Rahul had picked up thigh injury during IPL 2023 in May.
Injuries apart, ever since the 2019 World Cup when in the semifinal, the fourth-placed New Zealand ended the table-toppers India’s run at Old Trafford, beating them by 18 runs in a rain-affected two-day semifinal, uncertainty dogged India’s middle order batting. With several batters getting a run-in at the number 4 and 5, India still was without solid options just a couple of months to go for 2023 World Cup.
Ek Saal Baad
A year later, it is a different song altogether. It has been a roller-coaster topsy-turvy 13th edition of the ODI World Cup so far. England, the reigning ODI and T20 World Cup champion, were booted out in the league stage, underperforming across all departments. They won only three out of the nine league matches.
Babar Azam-led Pakistan, that entered Asia Cup as world number one ODI team barely months ago, not only lost the World Cup semifinals spot, but it also ended up being defeated by 93 runs by England in the final league-stage match of the tournament. Babar Azam paid the price as he stepped down as the Pakistan captain across all the formats. And the uncertainty looms over the captaincy and cricketing career of Jos Butler.
And the Winner is…
The winner of the 13th ODI World Cup will be crowned at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday, November 19 with the winning team walking away with a whopping $4,000,000 (approximately Rs 33 crore) prize money along with the coveted World Cup trophy.
The real winner in this World Cup, however, is the lion-hearted Afghanistan, a team that ended at the 6th position in the point tally with 8 points (same as the fifth-ranked Pakistan). It, in the process, vanquished three former World Cup champions (England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka), and almost entered the semi-final.
Woh Do Din
Day 1, November 15, 2023
When the semi-final line-up was decided with the underdog New Zealand becoming the fourth team to qualify, cricketing pundits sketched a doomsday scenario for Team India. Their prediction was that the law of averages would catch up and New Zealand would stop the Indian juggernaut in the semifinal. After all, New Zealand, in the past had been India’s nemesis in the ICC events and Kane Williamson, the New Zealand captain, had warned before the semi-final that “anything can happen” when NZ play their best cricket.
Before this semi-final, India had always succumbed to New Zealand in a knock-out game of an ICC tournament. But this time, the Rohit Sharma boys had different ideas. They banished the ghosts of the 2019 World Cup semifinal in style. Batting first they racked up 397/4, the highest team total in any World Cup knockout game. It began with a blistering 71 run first wicket partnership between Rohit Sharma and Shubhan Gill.
Thence arrived the sublime Virat Kohli masterclass as he blasted record breaking 50th ODI century, with his idol Sachin Tendulkar whose record he broke applause and clapping from the pavilion. Matunga boy Shreyas Iyer mesmerized the audience with his sensational knock of 67-ball back-to-back 100 taking his tournament runs to 526. And the new kid on the block, heart-throb Shubhan Gill, missed century by a whisker due to cramps.
But it is not over till it is over.
India got the first blood with the first bowling change in over six of the New Zealand batting with score reading 34-0 when with his first ball Mohammed Shami sent Conway packing. It was double delight within 8th over (Shami’s second), when a faint edge from in-form Rachin, New Zealand top scorer in the tournament, handed a simple catch to Rahul.
But the real scare awaited India, on a day it was focused to make history, before a packed Wankhede and a record a peak concurrent viewership of 5.4 crore on Disney+ Hotstar, as the duo of Kane Williamson and Mitchel charged with their 179-run partnership and tried to run away with the match. Shami reintroduced in over 33, brought India back in the game, as he scalped Williamson, caught Surya Kumar Yadav at deep square leg. Next to go was Tom Latham for a duck in the same over.
And it was celebration time for Shami who became the fastest bowler to take 50 ODI World Cup wickets. It happened due to destiny, sheer luck, as Shami, after being benched for the first four league matches, was playing accidentally, because the first choice—all-rounder Hardik Pandya—injured himself.
Till the 41st over, in which Siraj was milked for 20 runs, New Zealand still fancied their chances. Siraj bowled a wide, full-length ball. Phillips threw his bat at it and the ball went over deep third for a six. Siraj responded with a low full toss. Phillips smacked it over long off for another six. At the end of over 41 New Zealand was 286/4 with Phillips and Mitchel going strong.
But soon Mitchel fell short of partners. In 43rd over, Philips squeezed Bumrah past the keeper for a four, but he fell to the next ball. In the 44th over, New Zealand was reduced to 299 for 6 wickets The winning equation now was nearly 98 runs in 36 balls.
At the end of the 47th over, it was all over for New Zealand, when Mitchel was out trying to accelerate the innings. Next to go in the 48th over was Mitchell Santner, and soon Shami got the wickets of Tim Southee and Lockie Ferguson.
For Team India it is a perfect 10, vanquishing New Zealand by 70 runs. Shami with 7/57 is the new mascot of Team India, becoming the first Indian to take a seven-wicket haul in ODI cricket surpassing Stuart Binny’s previous best ODI figures of 6/4 4 against Bangladesh in 2014.
Shami, despite missing out in the first four matches, with 23 wickets in 6 matches, became the leading wicket taker of the World Cup. Kohli broke Tendulkar’s 49 century record and more importantly with 711 runs in the tournament became the highest scoring batter in a single edition of the men’s ODI World Cup, surpassing Tendulkar’s 673 runs in 2003. And it was not all, with 8, 50-plus scores by Kohli in this tournament, it is most by any batter in a single edition of the ODI World Cup. Tendulkar in 2003 and Shakib Al Hasan in 2019 had seven 50-plus scores each.
And Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill proved their metal, breaking some more records. Rohit Sharma with his 51 sixes in ODI World Cups, became the one with most for a batter, relegating Chris Gayle’s 49 to the second position. Rohit’s 28 sixes have come in the current World Cup which is the most for any batter in a single edition, surpassing that of 26 of Chris Gayle in 2015.
Last but not least, with fourteen 50-plus partnerships in 21 ODI innings between Rohit and Shubman Gill in 2023, the duo set the record of most 50-plus stands for a pair in a calendar year in men’s ODIs.
Day 2, November 16, 2023
After India decimated New Zealand, the question uppermost in the mind of one and all was, who would be victorious at Eden Garden and join the party at Ahmedabad. It was South Africa with the perennial chokers tag versus Australia, eight-time finalists (out of 12 ODI World Cups) and five times winners. It could have been the date with destiny for Temba Bavuma who had a chance to become the first South African captain to lead a side to a World Cup final despite a hamstring injury, more particularly because invincible Australia never had looked more vulnerable having lost their first two matches and had snatched somehow victory from the jaw of defeat in two matches towards end.
The choker tag returned to haunt Proteas soon with the second ball of the very first over of Mitchell Starc South African captain pushed at the ball, giving an easy catch to Josh Inglis behind the stumps. It was 1-1 at the end of Over 1.
The ghosts returned to haunt Proteas in the sixth over when the master batsman De Kock got out. At the end of power-play, Proteas stared at possible defeat with 18-2. Makram was gone in the very next over, caught Labuschagne and bowled Starc, the scorecard read 22-3. In 12th over Hazlewood sent Van der Dussen to the pavilion. South Africa left tottering at 28-4. This was followed by a partnership and South Africa crawled to 67-4 after 20 overs and 79-4 after midway after 25 overs. With Carlsen departing at 47 in the 31st over, the team was 119 runs for the loss of 5 wickets. Jansen was out next ball. However, thanks to Miller’s heroic century, South Africa could make 212 runs in total.
Despite a modest total, South Africa gave Australia a good fight and in the end the Aussies could reach the It was heady time for Pat Cummins boys with certain entry to final having bundled out Proteas at below par score, supposedly on a batter friendly wicket. Australia total in the 48th over with the loss of seven wickets.
What a Journey it has been
India’s journey in the 13th ODI World Cup final has been incredible. Winning 10 games on a trot, it is India’s first entry to the ODI World Cup final in twelve years.
The progression of the team India to the final has been a master class. It began with the opener against Australia at MA Chidambaram stadium (Chepauk) at Chennai. Despite a top order collapse—three of top four batters falling for ducks, for the first time in an ODI, inside two overs—India vanquished five-times-champions by six-wicket. The 165-run fourth wicket partnership, between Kohli (85 runs) and Rahul (chanceless 97 not out) enabled India to cruise past 200 run victory-line in 41.2 overs. The ride thereafter has been one of a roller-coaster dream winning next nine games clinically vanquishing and eclipsing the opponents.
India is joined by Australia, five times winner and eight-time finalist (out of 12 editions). In contrast to India, the Aussie journey in this World Cup has been about huffing and puffing. Before coming into the World Cup, Australia had lost five of their last six ODIs and were comprehensively beaten in their first two games of the World Cup—to India and South Africa. However, the Aussies made a grand turnaround, entering the World Cup final with eight straight eight.
The Super Sunday
The grand finale will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on super Sunday, November 19. Australian cricket pundits say the Aussies have picked up momentum at the right time. Indians are buoyed by their sterling performance so far. It is a battle of nerves.
If Team India bats first, it will need to not lose a wicket in power play before punching ahead. If the Aussies bat first, India’s bowlers will have to restrict the five-time champions to a beatable total. The team which plays the best cricket in the grand finale will win. I, the incorrigible optimist, hope and pray that it will be the third ODI World Cup win for Team India. Amen!
Akhileshwar Sahay is a Multidisciplinary Thought Leader with Action Bias and India based International Impact Consultant. He is a sports enthusiast who writes sports Op-Ed articles with the byline Khel Vaani. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.