To be world champions, you must have a champion team. And what is a champion team? A team with no major weaknesses, or at least with fewer weaknesses than other teams in the same competition.
At this World Cup, India was a champion team with just one glaring weakness. And as luck would have it, both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were dismissed early in the all-important semifinal, an uncommon occurrence these days. That resulted in this weakness being exposed – the middle order was India’s Achilles heel and New Zealand exploited that expertly.
However, now that the World Cup is over, what does India need to do to make sure their ODI team continues to be strong?
1.Prithvi Shaw/ Shikhar Dhawan
The left-hander’s(Shikhar Dhawan) campaign lasted just two games due to an unfortunate thumb injury but he did show his class in ICC tournaments again with a match-winning ton against Australia. He will definitely be in the future plan of India. When it comes to ICC event, Shikhar is a Gabbar and can demolish any bowling attacks. His absence was felt in that crunch semifinal. He is a reliable opener for India as he easily converts fifty in ton.
Prithvi Shaw is exceptional against the quicks but has to work on the inswingers and the wrong ones thrown at him by leggies .If India finds a fine new Left-hander who can match Shaw’s capabilities then he will be preferred over Shaw for being a left handed batsman.
2. Rohit Sharma(VC)
The ‘Hitman’ became the first batsman in history to slam five centuries in a single World Cup edition but he will be despondent after his semi-final failure. Fell just short of breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s record tally of 673 runs in the 2003 World Cup.
Unlike past, he has become a consistent scorer for India in ODIS. He might be handed Captaincy too seeing his successful reign in IPL. He will turn 36 in next WC but he will have plenty to show the magic or maybe the triple ton.
8. Bhuvi
He will lead the Indian bowling department . I don’t see Kohli’s hot aggressive habits go down with age , so , we do need a calm vice captain who will aide our champion captain when situations go tough in the field . Bhuvi will be our death bowler specialist with Bumrah .
9.Yuzvender Chahal/ Shreyas Gopal
Chahal has tasted plenty of success in IPL as well as International Cricket. He will be the leading leg spinner in 2023 world cup with his experience and maturity. He has been an integral part of Indian team throughout the successful journey. I hope he will be a more competitive and wicket taking bowler in near future.
Another player applying his trade with India A against Sri Lanka this summer is Shreyas Gopal. He has made his name in the IPL taking big-name wickets at key moments. Averages under 18 in the shortest format. Can be handy with the bat having hit four first-class centuries but his bowling needs work first.
10. Kuldeep Yadav
I don’t see any wrist spinner more specifically a Chinaman left arm slow unorthodox bowler of Kuldeep’s ability enter into the national scenes to challenge Kuldeep in these 5 years . He is an obvious pick .
11. Jaspreet Bumrah
The No1 ODI bowler in the world was at his very best in the World Cup and excelled equally with the new ball and in the death overs. Picked up 18 wickets overall while going at an economy-rate of only 4.41 runs an over.Bumrah, ranked No 1 in ODIs, has plenty of years left in him. He is the most exciting Indian pacer since Zaheer Khan.
What’s you view on this? Do you think it needs some change? And more importantly, Will India be able to win the world Cup?
