Over the last one and a half months during ICC World Cup, Team India have given over a billion fans a reason to rejoice, celebrate, and innumerable memories. However, the final eluded Rohit Sharma & Co as India’s hopes of winning their third World Cup were diminished. While there will be innumerable analyses of what went wrong for India in the final hurdle, there have been major boxes ticked in the showpiece event.
Right from our super aggressive batting to our phenomenal spell of fast bowling, and tremendous feilding, India were right on the money. Also, head coach Rahul Dravid maintained a very nice team spirit in the team, which helped players smile throughout the WC campaign.
Also, different players stepping in various matches and tough situations was one thing to behold.
However, at InsideSport, we look back at five positives from the Rohit Sharma-led team India in the Cricket 2023 World Cup.
Positives of Rohit Sharma-led Team India in 2023 World Cup
1: Rohit Sharma’s ultra-aggressive batting in the powerplay
When you expect other players to play fearlessly, you also need to start doing so, and Rohit Sharma perfectly led by example by batting aggressively in the World Cup. The 36-year-old might have scored only one hundred in the WC, but his crucial 40s at a strike rate of over 100 helped other batters like Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, and KL Rahul to bat freely in the middle overs.
Rohit never backed away from his aggressive style of play even in the finals. The skipper scored 47 off just 31 balls and laid a perfect foundation for the rest of the batters. In 11 matches of WC, Rohit ended up scoring 597 runs at an average of 55.
2: Shreyas Iyer nails the number four spot
Heading into the World Cup 2023, there were still some doubts over Shreyas Iyer cementing his spot at the dreaded number four in ODIs. In the last WC in 2019, it was a lack of runs at number four that cost India a World Cup. However, Shreyas put all those doubts to bed by scoring 530 runs at an average of 67. The right-hand batter scored a scintillating hundred in the semi-final against New Zealand and enabled India to get those 70 extra runs.
3: Mohammad Shami’s resurgence as bowler
It’s hard to believe that Mohammad Shami was not part of the playing XI for India’s first four games. An unfortunate injury to Hardik Pandya disrupted the team balance, and Shami had to be played in place of Shardul Thakur. Shami cashed in on that golden chance and went on to have a record-shattering WC.
The fast bowler picked up 24 wickets in just seven games at a scarcely believable average of 10.71. Shami ended up being the top wicket-taker and easily overshadowed Jasprit Bumhar, who was superb himself in WC.
4: KL Rahul shines as wicketkeeper batter
Rahul Dravid’s undying faith in KL Rahul was finally rewarded in the WC 2023 as the latter nailed the wicketkeeper slot. There was never an iota of doubt about Rahul’s batting, but there were few question marks over his wicketkeeping since he was coming off a long injury layoff. However, Rahul aced wicketkeeping well and was also superb with DRS calls.
Coming in at number five, Rahul played aggressively and also notched up the fastest World Cup hundred by an Indian in WC. The 31-year-old ended up taking 17 catches behind the stumps, which is a record in the WC by an Indian wicketkeeper batter.
5: Virat Kohli – The World Cup Great
Last but not least, Virat Kohli had a dream tournament and almost won India their WC. Be it bat, on the field, and also with the ball, Kohli owned the WC with his terrific display. Kohli came into the showpiece event needing two hundreds to break Tendulkar’s record. The 36-year-old achieved all these and also went past Tendulkar’s 49 ODI centuries in front of his idol at the Wankhede Stadium.
The former India captain ended up scoring a humungous 765 runs in 11 matches at an average of 95.62.
Editors pick
