12 years and counting, India Cricket Team has failed to land any World Cup. Their last major success was ICC Champions Trophy in 2013. While ODI Asia Cup triumph has been promising, India will be up against the world’s best as the World No 1 team across all three formats. Before the sun sets on their careers, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will be eager to win the coveted World Cup 2023 trophy. And this time, they will have the home comfort with conditions suitable for Indian batters.
Unlike T20 World Cup, the good news for Team India is a fit and in-form squad. Barring Rishabh Pant, all are back including Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer from long-time injuries. All three have hit the top gear in Asia Cup and against Australia at home and that is a relief for Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid.
How India squad for World Cup 2023 look?
While Rishabh Pant will be the biggest miss, there are players to fill in the void. Ishan Kishan has done well to fill in the gap in ODIs while Suryakumar Yadav has also returned to ODI form just in time to rekindle hope. In fact, barring Suryakumar Yadav, all India’s Top 5 players (in the Playing XI) have averaged over 50.00 or just about 50.
Shubman Gill is currently the World No 1 ODI batting contender and the leading run-scorer in the calendar year. He has smashed over 1400 runs in the last 12 months with five centuries and 6 half-centuries apart from a double ton. Virat Kohli has also hit the top gear with four centuries to his name in the last 12 months.
Indian batters in last 12 months
| Batter | Mat | Runs | Avg | HS | SR | 50/100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shubman Gill | 26 | 1418 | 64.45 | 208 | 102.01 | 6/5 |
| Rohit Sharma | 17 | 655 | 50.38 | 101 | 109.16 | 6/1 |
| Virat Kohli | 18 | 683 | 52.53 | 166 | 115.17 | 1/4 |
| Shreyas Iyer | 16 | 645 | 53.75 | 113 | 99.38 | 3/2 |
| KL Rahul | 15 | 600 | 60 | 111 | 87.08 | 5/1 |
| Suryakumar Yadav | 16 | 319 | 24.53 | 72 | 113.93 | 2/0 |
| Hardik Pandya | 16 | 372 | 33.81 | 87 | 93.93 | 3/0 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 14 | 154 | 25.66 | 45 | 59.68 | 0/0 |
| Ishan Kishan | 19 | 742 | 49.46 | 210 | 104.65 | 5/1 |
| Shardul Thakur | 20 | 105 | 9.54 | 33 | 83.33 | 0/0 |
Bowling department
In the bowling department, Jasprit Bumrah’s return is the biggest positive. The pace spearhead has only played 5 ODIs in the last 12 months. But with the kind of performances he has delivered since return, Team India will be a happy unit in World Cup.
And even when he has been in form, others have stepped up. Mohammed Siraj blew away Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup final with a fifer in just 17 deliveries. Mohammad Shami also bagged his maiden ODI fifer against Australia. And with that trio set to be India’s pace attack, the signs are good.
Siraj is the leader of the attack in terms of wickets having taken 40 scalps in the last 12 months in 18 games.
In the spin department, India are probably the best positioned at the moment. Leg-spinner Kuldeep Yadav has set the stage on fire with three four-fers and a fifer in the last 12 months taking his tally to 38 wickets in 20 matches. He has been extremely useful. Then there is Ravindra Jadeja. Even though he has lacked wicket-taking deliveries, he has been successful in restricting batters with just a 4.6 economy rate.
And if Ravichandran Ashwin does come in as a late replacement for Axar Patel, it will complete an all-dimensional spin attack.
Indian bowlers in last 12 months
| Bowler | Mat | Wickets | Econ | Best | 4W/5W |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shardul Thakur | 20 | 27 | 5.7 | 4/37 | 1/0 |
| Jasprit Bumrah | 5 | 5 | 4.22 | 2/30 | 0/0 |
| Mohammed Siraj | 19 | 40 | 4.73 | 6/21 | 2/1 |
| Kuldeep Yadav | 20 | 38 | 4.66 | 5/25 | 3/1 |
| Mohammed Shami | 12 | 18 | 5.21 | 5/51 | 0/1 |
| Axar Patel | 10 | 6 | 5.51 | 2/22 | 0/0 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 14 | 12 | 4.6 | 3/37 | 0/0 |
| Hardik Pandya | 16 | 16 | 5.24 | 3/3 | 0/0 |
Team India SWOT Analysis:
Strength
The days are gone when batting or spin bowling were India’s strength. Now, it’s an overall attack. If the top 5 pure batters contribute heavily to the team’s total, Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya can add to that. That stretches India’s batting to No 7, a great option to have in a World Cup.
Bowling: India’s bowling line-up has taken 129 wickets in the last 12 months and among them, a pacer is leading the wicket-taking charts. That speaks volume of India’s strength.
Weakness:
Absence of all-rounders: The biggest weakness would be absence of all-rounders. The Top 6 of India Playing XI lack any meaningful bowling abilities. Hence, it will be difficult for Rohit Sharma to have a Plan B when frontline bowlers won’t click as a unit. While Shardul Thakur was brought in to have some all-round abilities, he has been lacklustre in white-ball batting. Furthermore, the bowlers do not bat and that only compounds the problem. That is the reason why Hardik Pandya or Ravindra Jadeja are so highly valued in Indian cricket.
Fielding: Another area of weakness is India’s fielding. Since R Sridhar’s departure, India’s fielding has nosedived. Under T Dilip, India are no longer one of the best fielding sides in the world and that is a concern.
Opportunities
To top it all, India are playing at home, a special advantage. India have lost only 8 matches in the last 12 months at home, winning 18.
With ODI’s fame and time dwindling, India Cricket Team has the opportunity to revive the format. And it can only happen if India triumph in World Cup 2023.
Threats
Injuries remain the biggest threat for Team India. Since the 2019 World Cup, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul have had long-term injuries. And that is concerning. As India will be travelling close to 12,000 kilometers across 11 venues in India, there will be injury concerns.
Best performance in World Cup: 1983, 2011 (Champions)
Performance in last WC: Semifinals (lost to New Zealand in 2019 WC semis)
India’s key players
Virat Kohli: The King of Indian Cricket Virat Kohli will always be the key player for India. At No 3, if he gets going, India can set up a big total and can chase down any total. His added motivation will be Sachin Tendulkar’s record of most centuries. Kohli is just 3 tons away from creating a world record and something nobody thought would be possible.
Hardik Pandya: The all-rounder brings balance to the side. Not only he can play match-winning knocks, he can play the anchor role as well. But it’s his contribution with the ball that is key. With the new ball or after the powerplay, Hardik Pandya is a real wicket-taker and the cushion of having an extra seamer gives Rohit Sharma the opportunity to bring in an additional spinner.
Jasprit Bumrah: India missed the superstar dearly in the T20 World Cup. He can not only swing, rattle batters with short balls but his awkward angles trouble the batters the most. He is the best death ball bowler at the moment and his form will be key to India’s success.
India Squad for Cricket World Cup 2023
Batters: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav
WKs: Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul (VC)
Seam all-rounders: Shardul Thakur
Spin all-rounders: Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin
Seamers: Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
Spinner: Kuldeep Yadav
Editors pick
