India's ICC World Cup 2023 Campaign So Far: A Tale of Depth and Déjà Vu

The Indian team is the only unbeaten side in the 10 nation ICC World Cup 2023.

On the eve of the first anniversary of his now all-time classic knock, Virat Kohli delivered yet another master class for his fans all over the world on Sunday night in Dharamshala.

Back in 2022, exactly a year ago, Kohli’s master class in pacing a chase had left everyone around the globe in awe. They just could not fathom how he pieced together a famous Indian win from a near impossible situation.

This came against all odds at the massive historic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) against traditional rival Pakistan in the 2022 edition of the T20 World Cup. That win brought a sense of relief because it restored sanity to a storied rivalry where India had the wood over Pakistan in all World Cups (ODIs and T20Is) except for a blip during the 2021 T20 World Cup.

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After winning the 2021 clash in Dubai, Pakistan felt that they had finally broken the jinx of never being able to beat India in a world event. That feeling was something Indians had been hoping to have too, but for their matches against New Zealand in all ICC events.

Going into Sunday's ICC World Cup 2023 match, it had been 20 years since an Indian win in any ICC men’s event in any format over New Zealand. There seemed to be a curse that India just could not shake off.

And when Ravindra Jadeja dropped a sitter off Rachin Ravindra, it seemed like that day all over again!

You were almost resigned to the fact that New Zealand had once again managed to keep their hold over India intact for some odd reason. Then Daryl Mitchell too was offered a life by Jasprit Bumrah and it seemed like it was all over for India.

But that’s when India’s strongest yet most underrated suit, their bowling, stood up once again. It so happened that their fifth-choice pace bowler, Mohammed Shami had struck gold with the very first ball in this edition of the World Cup. From there on Shami rode his luck to keep the New Zealand batters in check.

He ran in with purpose almost as if he had a point to prove to the men who matter. He wanted to show that he deserved to be the fourth choice of pace bowler instead of fifth in the pecking order behind Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur. Shami knocked over the New Zealand batters with ease, finishing with a haul of 5/54.

There were three individuals at the ground, former New Zealand wicket-keeper Ian Smith, former India captain Ravi Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar who would have felt a sense of déjà vu. This moment came when Shami was on a hat-trick. He had bowled both Mitchell Santner and Matt Henry off successive deliveries in the 48^th over.

For Smith, Shastri, and Gavaskar it would have felt like 1987 once again. That was the last time an Indian bowler in a World Cup clash was on a hat-trick on Indian soil against New Zealand. Then India’s pocket dynamo Chetan Sharma had dismissed Ken Rutherford, Smith, and Ewan Chatfield to claim first-ever hat-trick in ODI World Cups.

That sense of déjà vu for the three former players itself should have lifted the spirits of a billion plus supporters of Indian cricket. For when that hat-trick happened in 1987 it was the second successive time India beat New Zealand on Indian soil and it was the second win ever over New Zealand in ICC events.

Hence there was some parallel to the events at Dharamsala on Sunday. Only this time it was all colourful and in much cooler conditions than in 1987.

But if you thought the parallel with the 1987 World Cup match in Nagpur ended with Shami’s bowling efforts then you were slightly mistaken, because like in 1987 there was another master on display in 2023. Then it was Gavaskar who smoked his first, and only ODI hundred, in the chase against New Zealand. It was an effort that made everyone rub their eyes in disbelief back then. Something similar happened on Sunday as the modern-day master, Virat Kohli was in charge once again for India in a chase.

Kohli controlled the chase beautifully. He helped lift the fog over the Indian camp resulting from a 20-year Kiwi jinx quite literally and figuratively. For a brief while the clouds did come in his way, but when it cleared, Kohli’s vision was clear as he wanted to lead India to a famous win.

He appeared determined to finish the chase and at the same time equal Gavaskar’s successor, Sachin Tendulkar’s record. This Sunday was like no other weekend in recent history if you were an Indian cricket fan. All your cricketing gods were lining up together for you to bow down to them.

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But in a country obsessed with our batters, we sometimes forget our working-class heroes, our bowlers. In this tournament thus far, the bowling has been the star of the show much like in the 2015 World Cup. Even then the Indian side had a free run till the semi-final (Oh these parallels never seem to end!)

There have been different heroes for India at different times during this tournament with the ball. They have lifted India out of trouble from difficult situations right from their first match against Australia.

Here are how the sides have fared in the tournament thus far against India:

• Aus: 110 for 2 — 199 all out

• Afg: 184 for 3 — 272 for 8

• Pak: 155 for 2 — 191 all out

• Bang: 93 for no loss — 256 for 8

• NZ: 205 for 3— 273 all out

This shows the depth India has in their bowling attack. They seem to have a man for every occasion. Earlier it was the spin twins Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav who spun a web around batters in the middle overs. Bumrah struck at will with the slightly older ball in some of the games. Siraj struck just after powerplay, whereas Pandya was consistent and relentless in the middle overs.

On Sunday India found a new hero with the ball in Shami who simply broke through the New Zealand middle and lower-order with absolute ease. This is the kind of depth India’s bowling has had in this tournament.

They had to rearrange their line-up following a freak injury to Pandya. This meant that they had to be limited to just five bowlers and this was a huge risk that they had to take. New Zealand realised India’s limitations as they attacked Yadav and made skipper Rohit Sharma look helpless.

However, Shami had other plans and manfully toiled away to reduce Sharma’s worries. Shami’s spell and later Kohli’s knock ensured that the Kiwi jinx was broken once and for all, hopefully this time for good.

Pandya’s absence though is still a worry because he is the only two in one player in the Indian camp who adds the sixth bowling option. Hopefully he will get fit before the Lucknow game against England, which is still a week away.

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The bigger worry though now is what to do with the choice of fast bowlers once Pandya gets fit. Numbers suggest Siraj is the best pick, whereas recent performance indicates Shami should be picked. This is a healthy situation to be in rather than wonder whom not to pick.

The only worry in an otherwise batting and bowling line-up, is the hara-kiri committed by Suryakumar Yadav, once again in an ODI. Yadav seems to be in self-destruct mode in ODI cricket for some strange reason and that will take more than a prayer to get over.  Else every batter has had a fair run in the middle and every bowler has toiled hard in the five games thus far.

Let us hope now that unlike last year post the historic win against Pakistan, this time the campaign runs for a longer duration than till just the semi-final.

If India does make the semi-final this time, they are drawn to play at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai much like the 1987 World Cup. We all know what happened then!

Oops! These parallels just do not seem to end…