Dt: 23 Nov 2023
We were waiting in anticipation .From the start of the World Cup 2023 there was talk that this was our best chance to bring back the cup which MS Dhoni had got for us in 2011.
However the challenges were many as we did not have a steady batting line up with too many injuries. Just before the WC we had Shreyas Iyer , KL Rahul , Rishabh Pant all in the injured list .These guys were the backbone of our middle order and the cup could not be won without them. Pant was responsible for his own injury by speeding a luxury car to his home and getting into a dangerous accident. He survived the crash but could not make it in time for India's ODI WC campaign.
The only positive aspect going into the WC was that the captaincy debate was settled .Kohli had taken a back seat to let Rohit lead the team and although he was grumpy at the beginning he came back all positive and ready to win with a good attitude. Once he started getting back to form and scoring 100s again there was no looking back for us.
Luckily as the days for squad announcement neared even KL and Iyer were declared fit. Hardik Pandya was coming on the back of 2 very good IPLs as captain for Gujrat Titans and looked excellent at no 6 with Jadeja at no 7.Unfortunately Shami had to miss out to add some balance to the team.
The first ODI against Australia was a tough one with Gill out due to Dengue and Ishan taking his place in the team .India collapsed against the Aussies ..3 down with nothing on the board ..it could have been 4 down if Kohli was not dropped. Yet we came back strong and chased the Aussie target with KL missing his 100 and remaining not out. It was a confident start to the WC.
What we didnt realise is that this team will go on to dominate the tournament and defeat every other opponent. Rohit Kohli & Iyer all getting 500+ runs and Kohli ending up as MoS. We won 10 games on the trot.At one point Hardik was injured and ruled out of the tournament .We had to bring in Shami in for Shardul and replace Hardik with Surya. This was to maintain the balance .
However Shami played a unbelievable tournament taking 5fers at will .At one point during the semis when Williamson and Mitchell were going all guns blazing , Shami ripped through the NZ batting line up picking 7 wickets and ending up as the highest wicket taker of the tournament leaving Adam Zampa behind. India set up a final clash with Australia who had come in after defeating South Africa in the semis. On the way they had defeated a resilient Afghanistan team where they had all but lost it. Maxwell had risen from the Ashes to score a not out 200 to take his team through.
We had started feeling that this Aussie team could go all the way from thereon and during the semifinals we just hoped that SA could win since we dint want to face the Aussies. However the Aussies folded SA on a good Eden wicket for very few runs and chased the target easily.
Come the finals the only thought for us as cricket fans of the 90s was to defeat the Aussies and get revenge for the 2003 WC final loss. Ganguly's team aided by some luck and some awesome cricket had reached the finals and although we had lost to Australia in the league stage in that tournament we hoped to win the finals .But the Aussies had other plans and they scored 300+ batting first and virtually kicked us out of the game in 2003.
All we wanted this time around 20 years later was to bat first score 300+ and knock them out. Things went to plan with Aussies deciding to field after winning the toss. We though that they made a wrong decision .However the abrasive pitch at Ahmedabad was so slow in the morning it hindered the stroke play of our batters. Aussies bowlers were ruthless. Their fielding was top notch and they must have easily saved 30 runs in the first 15 overs. Rohit was going hammer and tongs but a splendid catch by Man of the Match Travis Head ended his stay. KL and Kohli stabilized the innings. Although it looked a very reassuring partnership at that stage, we realised later that our run rate had gone down drastically and we scored only 70 runs in 20 overs from 10-30.
We lost the game there since the plan to capitalize in the last 15 overs could not materialize as the ball started reversing and we lost KL and Jadeja together. Defending 240 was not going to be easy but we struck 3 quick wickets and set up the game well. However the pitch became easier to bat and Travis Head who was rested during the first half of the tournament made it his own and scored a beautiful 100 to complete the chase.
We lost .It hurt the team and its supporters a lot .But what hurt more was that we lost to the Aussies again. Aussies have won the cup for the 6th time now. Its the mindset with which they approach the finals that makes them difficult to beat . We move on with hopes to win the Champions Trophy and the T20 WC .However the original WC is the ODI WC and hope the next generation keeps this quest for the cup alive.
Till next time...
