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The 13th edition of the quadrennial cricketing spectacle, the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2023, was played in its entirety in India with 10 teams participating in it. The Indian cricket team had a memorable ODI World Cup 2023 in front of their home fans despite losing the final of the tournament against Australia by six wickets on a fateful November 19 night as far as their players and fans were concerned. But then, if you go down memory lane, they did play exceptionally well to reach the summit clash of the World Cup at home last year.
It all started on October 5, 2023, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, when India defeated Australia by six wickets in a relatively one-sided contest. After brushing aside Afghanistan in Delhi, in the highly anticipated clash against Pakistan in Ahmedabad, the Indian cricket team didn’t put a foot wrong as they demolished the near neighbours for the eighth time in ODI World Cup cricket, this time by seven wickets after a sensational bowling spell from Jasprit Bumrah.
Bangladesh were no match to the might of India once again in CWC, losing to them by seven wickets at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Pune. The first competitive contest for India happened in Dharamsala against New Zealand, which needed a Virat Kohli special, to take them over the line with just four wickets in hand. After chasing down targets successfully in five consecutive matches in ODI World Cup 2023, India defended the runs four times in a row against England, Sri Lanka, South Africa, and Netherlands, winning each match by more than 100 runs.
In the semi-final of the CWC 2023, India posted a massive total of 397/4 after Virat Kohli got his 50th ODI hundred and Shreyas Iyer reached a three-figure score of his own. While defending the total, India were put under serious pressure by Daryl Mitchell at one stage, who ended up scoring a hundred, but a seven-wicket haul from Mohammed Shami proved more than enough for the hosts to reach their fourth World Cup final.
Following a complete domination in the first 10 matches of the ODI World Cup 2023, India reached the final of the tournament at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad against five-time world champions Australia. But, when it mattered the most, the Indian cricket team had an off day as a collective unit as Australia chased down the 241-run target on an ever-improving pitch for batting, thanks mainly to the Travis Head hundred after the bowlers did their job in the afternoon.
With that, India lost their second ODI World Cup final in four appearances, but regardless, it is widely considered as one of the greatest CWC campaigns for a team without winning the coveted trophy.
