ROHIT SHARMA TO CAPTAIN ODI TEAM OF 2023: DARYL MITCHELL, ADAM ZAMPA ALSO INCLUDED

Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma feature among the top three ODI rungetters of 2023. They would open the innings in the dream team. Gill, in fact, sits on top of the list. In 29 matches, he scored 1584 runs at an average...

- RENIN WILBEN

The year 2023 was crucial for one-dayers in the sense that the World Cup in the format was held this year. India and Australia made the grand final of the ICC event. The hosts were undefeated heading into the final but went down to the Aussies, failing

to cross the last hurdle. World champions Australia played 22 ODIs in 2023, winning 14 and losing eight. They won the matches that mattered the most. India played as many as 35 matches, winning 27 and losing only seven. The ICC title, though, continued to elude them. England had a poor year and a disastrous World Cup. They won 11 and lost 12 ODIs. New Zealand had a mixed year, winning 15 and losing 17 as did Pakistan, winning 14 and losing 10. Former world champions Sri Lanka won 16 games and lost 15. On that note, let’s look at the ODI team of 2023, dominated by Indians, who had a stellar year.

OPENERS: SHUBMAN GILL, ROHIT SHARMA (CAPTAIN) Shubman Gill, and Rohit Sharma feature among the top three ODI run-getters of 2023. They would open the innings in the dream team. Gill, in fact, sits on top of the list. In 29 matches, he scored 1584 runs at an average of 63.36 and a strike rate of 105.45 with five hundred and nine fifties. Gill scored a fluent 116 off 97 balls against Sri Lanka in Thiruvananthapuram at the start of the year and followed it up with 208 off 149 balls versus New Zealand in Hyderabad. The elegant right-handed batter also clubbed 112 off 78 against the Kiwis in Hyderabad, 121 off 133 versus Bangladesh in Colombo in the Asia Cup, and 104 off 97 against Australia in Indore. With a little more luck, he might as well have finished the year with seven or eight ODI tons.