Before the beginning of the ODI World Cup 2023, the Indian team were billed as favourites for the tournament, taking into account their home advantage as well as their form in the months prior to the spectacle. Rohit Sharma and Co. were missing a few big names owing to injuries, but once all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place, the Indian juggernaut romped their way to the Asia Cup 2023 title.
The ‘favourites’ talk has only grown louder in the two months since, as India dismantled every single opponent, heading into the World Cup semifinal as the only unbeaten team, having won all of their nine group stage games in emphatic fashion.
The Men in Blue were a dominant force in the marquee tournament but despite their vast pool of players being developed through domestic tournaments, the World Cup trophy has eluded the side since 2011. Now the pressure is on the Indian side to replicate their heroics in 2011 where they won the trophy when India were the joint-hosts of the tournament. With familiar foes, New Zealand waiting in the semifinal, India will have a chance of taking revenge for the 2019 semifinal defeat and end their semifinal jinx to march into the World Cup final.
Follow all the action from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 including the World Cup schedule, World Cup 2023 results, and ICC Cricket World Cup points table. Players are vying to top the World Cup 2023 Most Runs and World Cup 2023 Most Wickets charts.
Let us take a look at India’s dominant run in the 2023 edition of the World Cup so far.
Game 1: India vs Australia
AUS: 199 all out in 49.3 Overs, IND: 201/4 in 41.2 Overs
Result: IND won by 6 wickets
All eyes were on the Indian team in their opening game against the mighty Aussies. Despite defeating the Australian side in the 3-match ODI series prior to the World Cup 2023, it’s a thumb rule in world cricket – never write off the Aussies.
The Indian bowlers took that into account as they cleaned up the Australian side for a mere 199 runs with the likes of Jasprit Bumrah striking in the first over to get rid of Mitchell Marsh. But as expected, the Aussies fought back with the experienced pair of David Warner and Steven Smith racking up some important runs on a tough track for the batters. The spin trio of Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, and Ravichandran Ashwin managed to get important breakthroughs in the middle phase of the innings to keep the Australian batting in check as the pacers eventually cleaned up the lower order as well.
But the real challenge came during the chase. Three big wickets fell that too for ducks. Skipper Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, and Shreyas Iyer were all back in the stands after just 2 overs into the second innings which put India on the back foot. But the chase master Virat Kohli along with the classy KL Rahul managed to hold down the fort and bring some stability into the chase as they steered India back into the game with a crucial 165-run partnership. Kohli was dismissed after scoring 85 runs but KL Rahul managed to close out the game, helping India win their opening fixture.
Game 2: India vs Afghanistan
AFG: 272/8 in 50 Overs, IND: 273/2 in 35 Overs
Result: IND won by 8 wickets
Next up, the Indian team was up against Afghanistan who were considered the dark horses heading into the World Cup, despite their early exit from the Asia Cup. The Afghanistan side batted first and despite their top-3 departing cheaply, the skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai managed to calm things down with the pair bringing up a century stand. With little help for bowlers on the strip, Afghanistan fought back through crucial runs from the middle order, and put together a decent target of 273 runs for India to chase down.
The Men in Blue came up with a ruthless display led by skipper Rohit Sharma, who put his duck in the previous game behind him. It was the ‘Hitman’ show while fellow opener, Ishan Kishan had the best seat in the house to watch the 36-year-old unleash wrath on Afghanistan bowlers. The skipper managed to bring up his century in just 63 balls making it the fastest century scored by an Indian in the World Cup as well, before his record was surpassed by KL Rahul recently. Ishan Kishan also scored a run-a-ball 47 followed by Virat Kohli’s half-century which helped India chase down the target in just 35 overs and make it two wins in two.
Game 3: India vs Pakistan
PAK: 191 in 42.5 Overs, IND 192/3 in 30.3 Overs
Results: IND won by 7 wickets
Having already outclassed Pakistan in the Asia Cup, the reunion of the two arch-rivals in Ahmedabad had the makings of a classic encounter, with both teams having won their opening two matches. But it ended up as one-way traffic for India as they dominated Pakistan on all fronts.
Team India were bowling first and they managed to strike in the first 10 overs by dismissing the youngster Abdullah Shafique. Imam-ul-Haq soon followed but half-centuries by both Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan steadied the ship. After getting rid of Babar, the remaining batting lineup eventually fell flat like a stack of cards for a mere total of 191 runs. Jasprit Bumrah was among the stand-out bowlers for India as he finished with figures of 2/19 in his seven overs.
It was the skipper leading from the front yet again as Rohit Sharma took the initiative to get the runs flowing quickly for the Indian side. Shaheen Afridi and Hasan Ali managed to get the wickets of the returning Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli respectively, but it did not matter in the end as Rohit and Shreyas Iyer managed to bring up their fifties and seal the win to make it three wins out of three for India.
ALSO READ| How Mohammed Shami’s ‘Junoon’ and a God-Gifted Talent Took Flight in Kolkata Maidans
Game 4: India vs Bangladesh
BAN: 256/8 in 50 Overs, IND: 261/3 in 41.3 Overs
Result: IND won by 7 wickets
Team India then travelled to Maharashtra where they went up against another Asian rival in Bangladesh. The Men in Blue were invited to bowl first and they faced a massive setback as Hardik Pandya was forced off the field due to an injury.
The pressure was on the Indians as the Bangladeshi opening pair of Tanzid Hasan and Litton Das managed to bring up their half-centuries and looked in cruise control. Again it was the spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja who dismissed the openers and led to the collapse of the Bangladeshi batting order. Despite a quickfire knock from Mahmudullah, there was no support for him from the other end as they set a total of 256 on the board despite missing Shakib-Al-Hasan who had picked up an injury.
Once again, the skipper Rohit Sharma was at his best as he looked to take on the bowlers in an aggressive fashion in the second innings. However, the risks finally caught up to the skipper as he missed out on his half-century. Nonetheless, it was Shubman Gill’s chance next to shine as he brought up his fifty and set a solid stand with Virat Kohli as well, to solidify the chase. After Gill’s departure, Kohli took on the responsibility of taking the team home as he brought up his century and made it four out of four wins.
Game 5: India vs New Zealand
NZ: 273 all out in 50 Overs, IND: 274/6 in 48 Overs
Results: IND won by 4 wickets
Team India next went to the hills to go up against New Zealand in a battle for the top spot in the table. At Dharamsala, the Men in Blue were bowling first and had started well with Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj cleaning up the Kiwi openers in quick time. But the pair of Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell proved to be a menace to the Indian bowlers.
Rachin had brought up his fifty while Mitchell was cruising his way to a hundred as they looked to post a high total on the board. Shami however, managed to show his class and experience in the game to dismiss both the set batters and get the ball rolling back in favour of India. Shami who made his way back into the side as the replacement for Pandya proved his worth in gold as he finished with figures of 5/54 in his 10 overs.
In the chase, Rohit was at his usual aggressive self but missed out on his half-century due to the brilliance of Lockie Ferguson who got both the openers back in the hut. But the chase master, Virat Kohli was in the middle and managed to lead the side to yet another win despite missing out on the ton and departing after smashing 95 runs. Ravindra Jadeja managed to score an important knock of 39 runs as he led the side home to make it five wins out of five.
Game 6: India vs England
IND: 229 all out in 50 Overs, ENG: 129 all out in 34.5 Overs
Result: IND won by 100 runs
Rohit Sharma’s men next travelled to Lucknow where they faced the defending champions, England. The English had a dismal start to the tournament having lost four out of their five games. While it may have looked like they could be written off, the English bowlers had a very good start in the first innings where Chris Woakes dismissed Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer cheaply while David Willey got the big wickets of Virat Kohli and KL Rahul. Rohit was leading the charge however as he looked to take the initiative and go after the bowlers to get a valiant knock of 87 runs after which Adil Rashid got the skipper and he missed out on the century. Suryakumar Yadav’s crucial 49 runs helped India set a target of 230 with England having the momentum.
In the second innings, India’s bowling truly shined. Jasprit Bumrah spearheaded the comeback as he got the big wickets of Dawid Malan and Joe Root in consecutive deliveries to get the ball rolling. Mohammed Shami also followed suit to get the wickets of Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes as England looked to be in big trouble. Kuldeep Yadav managed to chip in with the wickets of Jos Buttler and Liam Livingstone followed by Mohammed Shami picking two more scalps along with Bumrah and Jadeja picking up the last two wickets to clean up the English batting order for a mere 129 runs. Thus India registered a win by 100 runs and made it six wins out of six.
ALSO READ| Captain Kane, New Zealand and ICC knockouts: The Story Continues…
Game 7: India vs Sri Lanka
IND: 357/8 in 50 Overs, SL 55 all out in 19.4 Overs
Result: IND won by 302 runs
Team India next travelled to Mumbai where they went up against Sri Lanka. Many expected India to wipe the floor here with the momentum in favour of Rohit Sharma’s men and they delivered. In the first innings, India managed to post a mammoth target of 357 thanks to contributions from Shubman Gill’s 92, Virat Kohli’s 88 and Shreyas Iyer’s 82. Sri Lanka was not really in the game especially in the first innings despite the heroics of Dilshan Madushanka who registered figures of 5/80. Despite being one of the standout bowlers in the tournament, he suffered from the lack of support from the other end as India went on to cruise through the first innings.
The second innings was in some ways a replay of the Asia Cup final. Jasprit Bumrah started off with a wicket in the very first delivery removing Pathum Nissanka. Mohammed Siraj also struck in his first delivery to dismiss Dimuth Karunaratne and Sadeera Samarawickrama in the same over. However, the star of the bowling attack was none other than Mohammed Shami who continued his red-hot streak. He managed to finish off with figures of 5/18 in just five overs as the Sri Lankan side were sent packing after being all out for 55, thus making it seven wins out of seven.
Game 8: India vs South Africa
IND: 326/5 in 50 Overs, SA: 83 all out in 27.1 Overs
Result: IND won by 243 runs
The Men in Blue were scheduled to travel to Kolkata next where the Proteas were up against the home side. South Africa had a brilliant tournament and were expected to be India’s toughest test in the World Cup. But that was far from the truth. India batted first and managed to set a target of 327 runs on the board. Rohit Sharma gave India a flying start with a quickfire 40 off 24 deliveries. But it was none other than Virat Kohli who starred in the first innings as he brought up his iconic 49th ODI ton and set a good total along with Shreyas Iyer who managed to score 77 as India looked to be in the hunt yet again.
The bowlers enjoyed another feast against South Africa as Mohammed Siraj got the big wicket of Quinton de Kock for cheap. Rohit Sharma’s captaincy was on point as he brought Ravindra Jadeja into the attack early on and managed to get the wicket of Temba Bavuma as well. Mohammed Shami managed to clean up the middle-order threats removing both Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram. Jadeja was the star this time around as he got the big wickets of Henrich Klaasen, David Miller, Keshav Maharaj, and Kagiso Rabada to seal his fifer in the game. Kuldeep Yadav removed both Marco Jansen and Lungi Ngidi to finish the game and India cleaned up the Proteas for a mere 83 runs to make it eight wins out of eight.
Game 8: India vs Netherlands
IND: 410/4 in 50 Overs, NED 250 all out in 47.5 Overs
Result: IND won by 160 runs
For their final group stage fixture, the Indian team travelled to Bengaluru where they went up against the Netherlands. Even though the Dutch failed to qualify for the semi-finals, they had a stellar campaign representing the Associate Nations. They managed to pick up wins over South Africa and Bangladesh. For India however, it was business as usual. India batted first and were off to an explosive start with skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill setting a 100-run stand. This time it was Shubman Gill who was the aggressor and managed to bring up his fifty in quick time. Paul van Meekeran however got the wicket of Gill while Bas de Leede got rid of Rohit Sharma. Virat Kohli also chipped in with a half-century although Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul took control of the innings. The pair managed to stitch a 175-run stand with both Iyer and Rahul bringing up their centuries and setting a mammoth score of 410.
Follow all the action from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 including the World Cup schedule, World Cup 2023 results, and ICC Cricket World Cup points table. Players are vying to top the World Cup 2023 Most Runs and World Cup 2023 Most Wickets charts.
Many might have expected the Indian bowling attack to clean up the Dutch quickly, but they showed their grit despite losing their opener, Wesley Barresi cheaply. Colin Ackermann and Max O’Dowd looked to punish the bowlers but were eventually dismissed after scoring 30-odd runs by Kuldeep and Jadeja. Sybrand Engelbrecht looked to fight back with a valiant 45. The spotlight however was on Virat Kohli who came in to bowl and managed to get the wicket of the Dutch skipper, Scott Edwards. Teja Nidanmanuru managed to bring up the only half-century before he was dismissed by the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma to seal the game and make it nine out of nine.
The Men in Blue now head into the semi-finals to go up against New Zealand which will be a replay of the 2019 semifinal. The Indian team however will look to turn their fortunes around with the home support in their favour and the team looking in prime form.
Comments
0 comment