Aravind Sundaram2003 Cricket World Cup at Johannesburg, South Africa is quite a memorable one to me as a child for all the wrong reasons. But for one match, India’s performance in 2003 was pretty impressive. However, all those aspects faded once the team lost the finals. Who can accept the fact that your beloved team is set to lose the cup despite an impeccable performance?
However, the opponent was quite formidable with a strong team that scored 359/2, which in itself seemed intimidating. Then came the wave of bowling for which our very own heroes fell. It was pretty disappointing as all that I cared was India’s victory.
Fast forward to 2023 Cricket World Cup, we are all set to face the same team with the same strengths. But now, team India too is formidable enough to intimidate its opponent. Hence, we can very well say that men in blue are well prepared to take over the Kangaroos. Here are some factors that could go in India’s favour at Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Batting order
In 2003, Australia batted first and made a score of 359 with a loss of two wickets only. When India’s turn came, Virender Sehwag increased the team’s total with his 84 and Sachin Tendulkar scored 4 out of 5 balls only. Then came Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh who increased the team’s total as much as they could.
Fast forward to 2023, our openers, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill are capable of scoring 100 within the first few overs. And, we have Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer who can capably push the score further. On the lower end, Ravindra Jadeja and Suryakumar Yadav too can push the score a little further.
Team of strong bowlers
Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Javagal Srinath and Harbhajan Singh were the team of bowlers in the 2003 team. Even though each one comes with a good bowling track record, it was Harbhajan Singh who managed to grab two wickets. Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan gave the most number of boundaries.
Coming to 2023, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj and Ravindra Jadeja can intimidate the batsmen with their bowling skills. Shami’s seven wicket record in the semi-finals against New Zealand and Bumrah’s clean bowled stints are note-worthy. And Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad is a bowling pitch. This could mean our bowlers can dominate the opponent’s batting order.
Home ground
In our last blog before the semi-finals, we did mention home ground as a reason why India should make all the efforts to win this world cup. At the same time, it is not the reason alone, but it is an advantage too. No one understands pitches in your country better than you. Hence, it is advantage India.
High expectations
Reportedly Prime Minister Narendra Modi is said to attend the finals of 2023 Cricket World Cup along with the Australian Deputy Prime Minister. Therefore, Expectations are high on team India as well as Australia. Both the teams will put their best foot forward to win the world cup and the viewership will touch new records. Every catch and wicket will create audience uproar(either ways). Every run will count as we are set to witness a high stake game of the year.
Aravind Sundaram
Guest Author