India Road to WTC Final 2023: Cricket is a number game and no one would better understand this than India Cricket Team. The 2021-23 World Test Championship cycle has been one such. In India’s Road to WTC Final 2023, India have had 5 captains, 2 coaches, 6 series 10 wins, and 5 losses. With Virat Kohli failing to secure the last WTC crown, it is now on Rohit Sharma to end the ICC trophy drought when they face Australia at the Oval on June 7.
This two-year period has been a mixed bag. India have won all series at home. But when it comes to overseas results, it stands at 1 loss and 1 draw. India failed to win the series in England, despite taking a 2-1 lead. In South Africa, India went from 1-0 lead to a 1-2 loss.
In between, India had a change in coaching personnel. Ravi Shastri made way for Rahul Dravid while Paras Mhambrey took charge of bowling after Bharat Arun stepped down.
But it’s the Test captaincy where India struggled the most. After Virat Kohli stepped down following South Africa series, Rohit Sharma took charge but not until Sri Lanka series. Injuries prevented him from making Test captaincy debut for far too long. In his absence, KL Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah carried on the duties even though Kohli was present.
In fact, under Rohit Sharma, India have played only 6 Tests out of 18. Virat Kohli has led in 7 Tests while KL Rahul was captain in 3 Tests. Even Ajinkya Rahane has also led India in 1 Test during this period.
India Test captains in WTC 2021-23 cycle:
- Virat Kohli (7)
- Ajinkya Rahane (1)
- KL Rahul (3)
- Jasprit Bumrah (1)
- Rohit Sharma (6)
India’s Road to WTC Final 2023:
- Draw: March 9, 2023, India vs Australia 4th Test
- Loss: March 1, 2023, India vs Australia 3rd Test
- Win: February 17, 2023, India vs Australia 2nd Test
- Win: February 9, 2023, India vs Australia 1st Test
- Win: December 22, 2022, India vs Bangladesh 2nd Test
- Win: December 14, 2022, India vs Bangladesh 1st Test
- Loss: July 1, 2022, India vs England 5th Test
- Win: March 12, 2022, India vs Sri Lanka 2nd Test
- Win: March 4, 2022, India vs Sri Lanka 1st Test
- Loss: January 11, 2022, India vs SA 3rd Test
- Loss: January 3, 2022, India vs SA 2nd Test
- Win: December 26, 2021, India vs SA 1st Test
- Win: December 03, 2021, India vs NZ 2nd Test
- Draw: November 25, 2021, India vs New Zealand 1st Test
- Win: September 02, 2021, India vs England 4th Test
- Loss: August 25, 2021, India vs England 3rd Test
- Win: August 12, 2021, India vs England 2nd Test
- Draw: August 04, 2021, India vs England 1st Test
India Tour of England: The highlight of the cycle was the series against England. India went to England to end their series drought. However, despite taking a 2-1 lead, England forced a draw.
With India leading 2-1 going into the 5th Test in Manchester, Covid struck. The 5th Test had to be abandoned after an outbreak of Covid cases in India camp. India did return after a year to complete the 5th Test. But England demolished Jasprit Bumrah-led India to force a 2-2 draw.
India Tour of South Africa: Like England, another frontier was South Africa. India took a 1-0 lead after demolishing the hosts in 1st Test. But Dean Elgar-led Proteas came back strong to win the series 2-1.
Border Gavaskar Trophy: At home, India are as strong as it can get. With easy series wins over New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, the eyes turned to India vs Australia series. As India battered Australia in the last two Border Gavaskar Trophy, it was time for an Aussie revenge. However, injury troubles prevented Australia from pulling off any miracle.
Combining that with some tough batting conditions, India dominated Australia in the first two Tests. However, Australia did bounce back in the 3rd Test before a dull draw in Ahmedabad. But with that series win, India did confirm a second consecutive WTC final.
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