
Picture Credit: Twitter
India will play their most important match against Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad in 2023 World Cup. While some Indian fans are excited to see their side lift a World Cup title on their home soil after a long wait, some fans are worried about past wounds, where they failed to cross the winning line in knock-out stages as the finalists of 2003 World Cup are set to play again.
Here, in this article we will see few things which India can do to ensure they stand ahead of them.
1. Rohit Sharma continuing to provide aggressive start in the powerplay overs
Rohit Sharma's aggressive knock in the powerplay overs of 2023 World Cup matches have always kept India much ahead of opposition team and also it provides a platform for other middle order batters like Kohli, Iyer, KL Rahul to take time and post a huge total of 350-plus runs on board easily.
Rohit Sharma has smashed one century, two 80-plus scores, one sixty-plus score and four forty-plus scores in this tournament.
India powerplay scores were 94/0 (against Afghanistan), 79/2 (chasing 192 runs against Pakistan), 91/1 (against South Africa), 91/0 (against Netherlands), and 84/1 (against New Zealand) which has put them ahead of all other opponents in 2023 World Cup.
2. Stability provided by middle-order batters is set to be a key factor
India has been searching for a number four batsman for a long time in ODIs since 2019 and finally they got a good batter, who can play a solid role with the bat in form of batters like Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul who have been terrific in this tournament so far. Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul's innings alongside Ro-Ko show will be a key factor for India to post a big total on board in middle overs.
In the last four games, Shreyas Iyer has scored four fifty-plus scores in 2023 World Cup, where two of them were centuries against sides like Netherlands and New Zealand. Shreyas Iyer became first batsman to record 500-plus runs in a single World Cup edition while batting at number 4 or lower position.
3. Jasprit Bumrah's economical bowling spell at powerplay
Jasprit Bumrah has been the most economical bowler in 2023 World Cup. Bumrah has taken 18 wickets in this tournament at an economy of 3.98. His economy of 3.98 with the ball has helped others like Shami, Siraj and other spinners to take wickets at the other end. Hence tight spells from Bumrah could be a key role in deciding Team India's fate.
Last time Bumrah won player of the match award for his bowling spell off 2/19 (10) against Pakistan at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
4. Ravindra Jadeja's match up against Steven Smith & Marnus Labuschagne
Ravindra Jadeja has dismissed Steven Smith 11 times in international cricket, while he has dismissed Labuschagne eight times in international cricket. So, when these two batters come to crease, Jadeja could play a key role with the ball in the absence of Ravichandran Ashwin as those batters' struggle to play Jadeja's bowling.
Jadeja has also been very economical (4.25) with the ball in 2023 World Cup and last time when he played against Australia, he ended up with a bowling figure of 3/28 (10).
5. Mohammed Shami continuing his consistency with the ball in 2023 World Cup
Initially, when talks were about Bumrah and Siraj, the focus shifted to Shami when he started performing consistently at this stage by picking 23 wickets from just 6 games which included three five-wicket hauls and one four-wicket haul, respectively.
Shami's ability to swing the balls has made him a stand-alone bowler in this tournament where he specifically went onto pick seven wickets in an ODI game during the semi-final match against New Zealand. He was also seen picking five-wicket haul against Sri Lanka and New Zealand in group stage and notably a four-wicket haul against England.
If Australia fields first, then Shami's bowling is expected to be more effective if the ball gets to swing under lights in middle overs.