India's road to World Cup final: A symphony of individual brilliance, record-breaking feats and unparalleled dominance
Ahead of India's much-anticipated World Cup final against Australia, a recap of how India sealed their berth for the summit clash.
One win is all that stands between Team India and a World Cup trophy. Over the last one month, the Men in Blue have put on a show to remember. They have been unbeaten, steamrolling one opponent after the other. In 10 matches, they were challenged only once – albeit briefly in the semi-final against New Zealand, a match they still managed to win by 70 runs. That's how dominant this team has been. As India prepare for the summit clash, the grand finale against five-time champions Australia, here's a recap of their awe-inspiring run at the CWC '23.
Beat Australia by 6 wickets
Approximately 10 days before their tournament opener, India faced Australia in a bilateral series, emerging victorious with a 2-1 triumph. The scenario repeated itself in Chennai during the World Cup, where India, despite an early batting collapse, secured a comfortable win. India's ploy of going ahead with three spinners in Kuldeep Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja proved to be the perfect plan as the trio combined to pick six wickets to restrict Australia to modest 199.
Although India faced a challenging target, with Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc creating havoc and reducing the top order to 2/3 – Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer out for ducks – the ghosts of 2019 were dispelled by a resilient partnership. Virat Kohli and KL Rahul forged a 165-run stand, with Virat overcoming an early drop to score 85, while Rahul remained unbeaten on 97.
Beat Afghanistan by 8 wickets
Despite half-centuries from captain Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai, Afghanistan were bulldozed by a rampant Indian batting line-up as a whirlwind century from Rohit Sharma and fifties from Kohli and Iyer gunned down a target of 273.
The match marked the reunion of Naveen-ul-Haq and Virat Kohli since their heated exchange in the IPL. However, any lingering animosity was put to rest as the two reconciled, burying the hatchet with a heartfelt embrace. Kohli, alongside Iyer, remained unbeaten, steering India to victory in the 35th over.
Beat Pakistan by 7 wickets
A match-up built with all the hype in the world, the India vs Pakistan World Cup fixture was reduced to a mismatch as the Men in Blue crushed Babar Azam and Co. with a landslide victory. Pakistan were on course for at least 300, but a middle-order collapse saw them lose nine wickets for just 36 runs. After bowling Pakistan out for 191, their lowest ODI total against India at the World Cup.
Once again, Rohit took off smashing 86 off 63 balls and even though Shubman Gill's return after a bout of dengue was spoiled by his dismissal for 16, Iyer smashed his second fifty on the bounce to take India's record over Pakistan at ODI World Cups to an unprecedented 8-0.
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Beat Bangladesh by 7 wickets
Another easy win for India as they made it 4 out of 4 by chasing down 257 with as many as 8 and a half overs left. The star of the win was Kohli, who broke his eight-year-long World Cup century drought with a blazing knock of 107 not out. Tanzid Hasan and Litton Das' half-centuries gave Bangladesh a strong start, but India were able to restrict Bangladesh to 256/8 despite losing Hardik Pandya to injury.
The target, although not a big one for this star-studded Indian batting order was however, was made a mockery of – first by Rohit and Gill who rocketed to 88 inside 13 overs, and then by Kohli, who spanked six fours and four sixes en route to competing his 48th ODI century.
Beat New Zealand by 4 wickets
Carrying the weight of the last 20 years, India broke their ICC hoodoo against New Zealand in Dharamsala, with significant contributions from Kohli and the returning Mohammed Shami. Daryl Mitchell's sparkling century set New Zealand the platform to explode, but Shami, playing his first match of the World Cup thwarted the Kiwi plans. Shami finished with a five-wicket-haul – his 5/54 shot New Zealand for 273.
Rohit did Rohit things, smashing 46 off 40 balls up front but the BlackCaps weren't going to make it easy. They kept chipping away, preventing Iyer and Rahul from cashing in on their promising starts. The one batter they didn't have an answer for though, was Kohli who played almost till the very end. Kohli perished for 97, going for a glory shot, but Ravindra Jadeja's calm and composed 39 not out under pressure saw India register their first World Cup win over New Zealand since 2003.
Beat England by 100 runs
The first time that India were put under pressure in CWC '23 was by England, who bowled them out for 229. On a slowish Lucknow surface, Rohit once again stood out with a magnificent knock of 86, but England's David Willey, Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid kept the other batters quiet. India were rocked at 40/3 when Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav resisted with a 91-run stand. SKY's 49 was instrumental as India ensured they didn't get bowled out.
In defence of a not-so-mighty total, India pacers responded with a show for the ages. Shami's four-wicket-burst was a deal-breaker and his dismissal of Ben Stokes could possibly go down as the wicket of the World Cup. Bumrah was equally probing with 3/32 as the two quicks bundled England for 129. Despite putting up their lowest World Cup total, India won the contest without breaking a sweat. Talk about dominating.
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Beat Sri Lanka by 302 runs
Less than two months after Sri Lanka were annihilated in the Asia Cup final, India's bowlers produced a repeat of the carnage that unfolded on September 17. Sri Lanka, handicapped by the loss of Dasun Shanaka due to an injury were no match for India as they were ripped apart for 55 all-out.
After a rare failure for captain Rohit – he was dismissed for 4 off the second ball of the match – Kohli's 88, Gill's 82 and Iyer's 82 powered India to 357/8 with Dilshan Madushanka grabbing a much-deserved five-wicket-haul. But his heroics were overshadowed by Shami's second 5-for and Siraj's three wickets as the match was out to rest inside 20 overs.
Beat South Africa by 243 runs
If defeating England by 100 runs, and then laying waste to Sri Lanka by 302 runs, the Indian bowling juggernaut dented the in-form South Africa. Billed up as the match of the tournament between the first two confirmed semi-finalists of the CWC '23, India skyrocketed to another one-sided win to take their ruthless march to 8-0.
The occasion was marked by Kohli's record-equalling 49th ODI century, drawing level with the legendary Sachin Tendulkar. Kohli played one of the grittiest knocks of his career, his unbeaten 101 giving India a solid 326/5. But any hopes of a South Africa fight was extinguished by India's bowlers. Led by Jadeja's five-wicket-haul, India bowled out South Africa for 83 in a contest driven by one-way traffic.
Beat the Netherlands by 160 runs
Despite having qualified for the semi-final. India made no changes to their Playing XI, and rightly so. Rahul and Iyer's hundreds pasted the Netherlands bowlers en route to India's second-highest World Cup total of all time – 410/4. It was one of the rare instances where all players that got a chance to bat, registered fifty-plus scores.
The Netherlands, one of the success stories of this World Cup, did not go down without a fight. Contributions from everyone in the batting order propelled them to a total of 250, with Gill, Kohli, and Rohit rolling their arms over - Sharma and Virat even claimed a wicket each. However, the formidable target proved insurmountable for the Dutch, and India, undefeated, charged into the semi-finals as the team to beat.
Beat New Zealand by 70 runs
As India were up against their bogey team – they had never beaten them in an ICC tournament knockout – you could cut the tension with a knife. But when India won the toss amid all the hoopla surrounding the team's chances batting second at the Wankhede and then put up 397/4, the highest-ever score in an ICC knockout, the 1.5 billion people heaved a sigh of relief. But their sense of security was tested by New Zealand, as after being 3 down for 39, Mitchell and Kane Williamson's counter-attacking partnership of 181 injected alarm bells. Would the ghosts of 2019 return?
For a moment it seemed so, and the possibility of it only spiked when Shami dropped a sitter. But just three overs later, the India pacer redeemed himself with a two-wicket over, getting the dangerous Williamson for 59 and then pinning Tom Latham right in front of the stumps for a duck. Shami, who had already gotten 4 by now added three more to finish with career-best 7/57 – the best bowling figures by an Indian in ODIs – as India entered their fourth World Cup final.
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