CAN INDIA REDEEM ITS PRIDE WINNING 2023 ODI WORLD CUP

The date is unforgettable. April 2, 2011 India won the 50-over World Cup beating Sri Lanka at home. We never won a World Cup after 2011 and it has been 12 years another chance has been bestowed on us, in this sprawling time Indian Board has grown by leaps and bounds commercially but as a cricket playing unit Indian Team – or Team India as we call it – has been found wanting in skills and strategy needed to win a World Cup. The verve has gone since and we never play as champions these days.

None of the players in the above picture plays for India at present except Virat Kohli – it can be seen a very young Virat (see arrow) with dream in his eyes and a joy that says after 2011 there would be many more trophies, just as the one he is party to, but alas the time did not come to hold aloft another memento of excellence, the time did not come for having another snap with every player ecstatic with joy saying – we are the Champions!!

What has happened to Indian cricket (?). There are lot of questions which remain unanswered.

But for now, let us concentrate on the World Cup itself. The 2023 ODI World Cup (WC) will be played in India between October 5 through November 19, 2023. Ten participating teams will vie for the Cup. India, Australia, England, South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Netherlands will play between them in League format and the top four would go to the semi-finals.

To the best of predictions, who would be the most likely top four(?). The top three spots will be occupied by England, Australia and South Africa. For the fourth spot teams India, Pakistan and New Zealand will have to fight it out. Since it is a league format advantage of being in a certain group would not be there. It will be very difficult for India to wade out challenges from Pakistan, and New Zealand (if not other teams) as both the teams are regrouping well after suffering injuries to some of their key players and almost all the players, more or less, are fit for the grind.

MyPersonal Peep. But in India’s case the scenario is the opposite. Players like Risabh Pant, K.L. Rahul, Shreyas Iyer are still languishing with injuries. Jasprit Bumrah has shown some light. His stint in Ireland brings hope to the Indian camp !

The highest weightage goes to England to win the 2023 World Cup !! Because the English team is loaded with excellent performers. Almost all of them have played in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and we have seen the skill set. To me, England is the 2023 World Cup winners. They won in 2019 edition as well.

The Squad of 15. Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes.

Ben Stokes comes out of retirement from ODI at the expense of one of the most promising cricketers of the side – Harry Brook.

Jos Buttler. Jos remains one of the best and most sought-after white ball cricketers in the present cricketing era. He has stitched a winning team with its key attributes just enough to bring England the 2023 World Cup !

MyPersonal Peep. I watch keenly the English cricket league Hundred and I see Jos in pristine form, the way he is batting can spell doom to any cricket team. He plays for Manchester Originals in the Hundred and the languid ease with which his strokes tear into the opposition fielders is a treat to watch.

Jos Buttler is hot cake in white ball cricket. Indian Premier League franchise Rajasthan Royals (RR) is all set to offer a lucrative multi-year contract to England's limited over skipper Jos Buttler, British newspaper Telegraph reported. Jos reportedly earns USD 12.5 million per IPL season and is set to increase.

Jos also plays for Paarl Royals in South African SA20 League and for Barbados Royals in Caribbean Premier League.

Buttler has proved to be a run-machine for RR, having scored five tons and 18 half-centuries in 71 matches since joining them in 2018.

So, this is the calibre of leadership in the English camp !! Do you have any questions (?).

The next weightage goes to Australia to win the 2023 World Cup !! Pat Cummins leads the side with Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David warner, Adam Zampa.

Surprisingly, Marnus Labuschagne, one of their best talents, does not get a look in !!

Amongst the best. Mitch Marsh and Adam Zampa, together remain the best prospect, along with Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell who can win the 2023 World Cup for Australia !

MyPersonal Peep. I have seen Mitch Marsh play one of the finest Ashes innings in 2023. His defiant approach to batting in the just concluded Ashes series in England was very refreshing and different. He is equally as at ease in Test matches as in white ball cricket. Mitch has been playing for Delhi Capitals in IPL and there are some very brave knocks to his account ! He is a leadership material.

Mitch Marsh will be the white ball captain on its tour to South Africa. The compacted Ashes series and the World Test Championship has been a heavy load on the players and we are taking a conservative approach to the build up to the World Cup says national selection panel chair George Bailey.

Critical to WC 2023, as I see it, the cunning of Adam Zampa will play a pivotal role on the turning pitches though the pitches in India, as he says, offer less bounce it is his guile that sees him through. He has a pinch of Shane Warne in his action and has the hallmark of a great spin bowler. Adam also plays for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League. A fascinating talent! Welcome aboard Zampa.

So, these four have proven track record in white ball cricket and can be singled out as the most important set of explosive players who can spoil the English party in WC 2023.

The third team with very good talent set is South Africa. At the time of writing this piece the South African Board had not named the provisional set of players for the WC 2023.

But who are these rocketeers(?). The strongest set of players who will take the South African team to the semis are Quinton de Kock, Heinrich Klassen, David Miller, Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje. All have been playing consistently in the IPL.

The most exciting talent as a batsman will be Heinrich Klassen – as English crowd have seen him belting bowlers with consummate ease in the Hundred. His stroke playing ability is enormous and killing !

MyPersonal Peep. Klassen with David Miller will form an explosive combination, on their day they can annihilate any bowler on earth and if these set of players get going then it will be very hard to put them down. Among the bowlers Kagiso Rabada is unputdownable !! His lithe figure and silent approach to the crease delivering a menacing inswinger puts him in the bracket of the best. He is a very silent, well mannered South African, never seen to express joy or sorrow on the field, calmly goes about his business. A respected fast bowler who almost always delivers.

The fourth team can be India but it has to tick lot of boxes. The home team with lot of advantages is expected to do wonders on the field. Team India will carry expectations of a billion Indian cricket loving crowd eager to see their favourite team crunch the opposition to size and come out victors.

They want to see Inda lift the coveted 2023 ODI World Cup !!

But how this dream can come true(?). Plain and simple every player needs to buck up. And on all fronts.

MyPersonal Peep. Two cricketers, who have the ability to take India to the WC2023 semi-final, are Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jasprit Bumrah. Yashaswi can really set the tempo for a match winning total and could be utilised as an opener.

But Jasprit holds the key. When M.S. Dhoni in April 2011 lifted the ODI World Cup, one youngster was all of 18 years of age and dreaming of donning India colours someday. He was farther along the line in January 2016 when he earned his first ODI cap. For him it was a shoestring deluxe, getting to roam the expansive hotel boulevards, backpacking fellow cricketers, stashing tasty sandwiches at tea breaks and scanning theatres for a go at his favourite stars ! It was so fun on the field and for every cricketer a pure discovery with bursts of activity in the longueurs of glorious Australian crowd, the green grass telling many stories of achievements and failures; the trees where the leaves glow with that golden green, the sun that illuminates the gold chain albeit staying gentle on the neck.

That was Jasprit Bumrah for you making his ODI debut against Australia in Sydney !!

What India needs to do (?). India needs to fire on all four cylinders. And there is one man who can stop the opposition from scoring runs freely – Jasprit Bumrah. He is to the Indian team what Jos Buttler is to English and Mitch Marsh is to the Australian team – indispensable and critically important !

The Rohit Sharma led team has many strengths, it is a sound mix of talent and experience. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have to click in many more matches than they are at present and the batting has to be different and vibrant with the inclusion of Yashasvi Jaiswal. Shubman Gill is another player who can play an excellent innings under stress – both are of a different ilk and India expects them to fire a lot.

My best 16. India has not announced its World Cup squad at the time of writing this content. My best 16 are Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Surya Kumar Yadav, K.L. Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Md. Shami, Md. Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh.

MyPersonal Peep. Along with Jasprit’s excellence, the Indian dressing room desperately needs the positivity and courage of a Ben Stokes !!

The verdict. India stands a 30-70 chance to make the semi-finals, although painful to write this but unless something extraordinary happens Team India has a 30% chance.

We all wish the Indian team good luck and hope this time they will bring the ODI World Cup to India. We will wait till November 19 for the magic to happen.

Play brave and win the Cup !