Cricket World Cup-Will Our Boys Win?

Home Advantage And The Indian Xi's Sizzling Performances In The Past Month Suggest That We Are Peaking On Time, But Worries Remain

- NIKHIL NAZ

Team India captain Rohit Sharma was just beginning to field questions from the press after India’s thumping win in the Asia Cup final when he was interrupted by the deafening sound of crackers being burst outside. He paused, allowed the noise to die down and then, almost instinctively, remarked, “World Cup jeetne ke baad phodo, yaar (Burst the crackers after we win the World Cup, guys)!” While Rohit’s comment was in jest, it does encapsulate the mood of a cricket-mad country that has been experiencing an extended title drought at the world level since 2011 when M.S. Dhoni led the Indian team to victory.

There could be no better time and place to end that pain than the 2023 edition of the ODI (one-day international) World Cup. If there was a 28-year gap between the time Dhoni’s Daredevils lifted the cup and when Kapil’s Devils won it for the first time in 1983, the hope is that ‘Rohit’s Roarers’ will end the impasse in this edition. The ODI World Cup is considered the G20 of cricket, the epitome of the white ball limited overs version of the game. Since the inception of one-dayers in 1975, the World Cup has emerged as cricket’s showpiece event, gaining worldwide acceptance and also the biggest prize money in the sport—the 2023 edition has a total purse of $10 million or Rs 83.3 crore. The previous edition saw a global cumulative live audience of 1.6 billion viewers: expect a jump by at least 40 per cent this time as the circus moves across 10 venues, covering a total of 48 games spread across 46 days.

INDIA’S STRENGTHS