The Cricket World Cup returns to India after 12 years with the hosts desperately seeking to end its trophy drought at a major ICC event.
India last won the 50-overs World Cup when it co-hosted the event in 2011 with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. M.S. Dhoni went on to lift the trophy as India beat Lanka by six wickets in the final at Mumbai.
It was India’s second ODI World Cup title — Kapil Dev’s team had the first when the side registered an upset triumph in England in 1983.
In 2013, India beat hosts England in the Champions Trophy final. Since then, it has been a veritable trophy drought — India lost in the semifinals of both the 2015 and 2019 ODI World Cups, while finishing runners-up in the 2014 T20 World Cup and the 2017 Champions Trophy.
India also hosted the 2016 T20 World Cup but failed to reach the finals, losing to eventual champions West Indies in the semifinal at Mumbai. It also lost successive World Test Championship finals to New Zealand (2021) and Australia (2023).
Despite a lack of success, India continues to be a perennial favorite at any and every ICC event. The expectations are enhanced when it hosts an ICC event, and so India — under Rohit Sharma — will be among the favorites when New Zealand plays England on Oct. 5 in the opening match in a replay of last year's final won by England.
For 36-year-old Sharma, it has been a bit of redemption. Left out of India’s 2011 World Cup-winning squad because of form and fitness concerns, he is now both captain and a prominent batter.
Sharma joins a select group of Indian captains to have led in a home World Cup — Kapil Dev (1987), Mohammed Azharuddin (1996) and Dhoni (2011, 2016).
Sharma finished as the top-scorer in the 2019 World Cup with 648 runs in nine matches at average 81. In 2015, he was India’s second-highest run-scorer in the tournament, so a lot will rest on Sharma’s run-scoring ability and his opening partnership with highly rated youngster Shubman Gill, who has scored 1,052 runs in 18 ODI innings in 2023.
There is also Virat Kohli, who recently overcame a prolonged three-year run of poor form and scored three centuries in his last 13 ODI innings. He now has 47 ODI centuries, two behind compatriot Sachin Tendulkar’s all-time record of 49, and the star batsman is expected to break that record during the tournament.
India experienced patchy form in its run-up to the World Cup. It barely managed to beat West Indies 2-1 (away) with Sharma and Kohli rested for the majority of that three-match series. Earlier, in March, it lost 2-1 at home to a full-strength Australian side.
But India is coming off a 2-1 win over Australia in India in the past week, including Australia's consolation 66-run win on Wednesday.
Key players include pacer Jasprit Bumrah, wicketkeeper Lokesh Rahul and middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyer, who recovered from long-term injuries to spur India to win its eighth Asia Cup title earlier this month.
It beat Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the group stages, before steamrolling Sri Lanka in the final. Pacer Mohammed Siraj picked a career-best 6-21 in Colombo as Sri Lanka was bowled out for just 50 runs.
India will open its tournament campaign against five-time champions Australia on Oct. 8 in Chennai. It will take on archrivals Pakistan in the marquee World Cup clash on Oct. 14 at Ahmedabad and will face England on Oct. 29 in Lucknow.
“In the last few games (against Australia and at the Asia Cup), we have been challenged across different conditions and against different opposition,” Sharma said after the third ODI against Australia on Wednesday. “We have played really well in these games. We have a good squad and we understand how we want to use it during the World Cup. It will be about keeping our minds and bodies fresh across the next 1 1/2 months.”
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