Yearender 2023: India’s long wait for ECC Trophy continues
New Delhi: Team India last won the ICC World Cup in India in 2011. It was the 50-over ODI format that was won under the astute leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Two years later, India won another ICC trophy in the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 under the leadership of the same captain, with young players like Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, his deputy Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar winning the title at Edgbaston. Birmingham. But after this, Indian fans are waiting for their next ICC title.
The ICC T20 World Cup was played in Sri Lanka in 2012, the very next year of the 2011 World Cup, where the blue team under the same leadership failed to make it to the semi-finals. The inaugural T20 World champions were eliminated in the group stage itself.
A year after the ICC Champions Trophy triumph, India under MS Dhoni went to Bangladesh to play the ICC T20 World Cup 2014. Team India remained unbeaten in its journey to the final, defeating arch-rivals Pakistan, West Indies, hosts Bangladesh and Australia. group stage. In the semi-finals, India easily defeated South Africa and reached the ICC T20 World Cup final for the second time since the inaugural edition in 2007. But unfortunately in the final at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Dhaka, they lost to Sri Lanka. Six wickets shattered more than a billion dreams.
The next year came the ICC ODI World Cup 2015 where India went into the 50-over format as defending champions. India performed brilliantly throughout the group stage, defeating arch-rivals Pakistan, South Africa, UAE, West Indies, Ireland and Zimbabwe to top the pool with 12 points. In the quarter-finals, India defeated Bangladesh by 109 runs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground to enter the semi-finals. But in the semi-finals at the Sydney Cricket Ground, they lost to eventual champions Australia by 95 runs. India’s World Cup crown returned to Australia.
India had another chance to win the ICC trophy in 2016 as the T20 World Cup was being played on home soil like 2011. India had a poor start to their campaign and lost to New Zealand in their opening match, but after that, they came back into form. After defeating Pakistan and Bangladesh in the group stage and Australia in the quarter-finals, they will face West Indies in the semi-finals at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. But the Caribbean Islanders spoiled India’s plans by defeating the hosts by seven wickets. They also managed to win the T20 World Cup and became the first team in history to win it for the second time.
In the beginning of 2017, MS Dhoni handed over the command of captaincy to Virat Kohli and the first challenge came to save the ICC Champions Trophy being played in England.
Team India made a winning start by defeating arch-rival Pakistan in its first match. India lost their next match to Sri Lanka but after that, they defeated South Africa in a crucial match of the group stage to enter the semi-finals, where they defeated Bangladesh by 9 wickets to enter the final. In the final match, India was once again face to face with Pakistan but this time they had to face defeat by 180 runs in the final match at the Oval in London as India also lost the Champions Trophy crown like the 50 over World Cup.
In 2019, India was once again in England to play the ICC World Cup 2019, where India performed brilliantly, losing only one match out of nine played against England and one match against New Zealand without any result due to rain. Finished and defeated teams like South Africa. , Pakistan, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, defending champions Australia and Afghanistan. But once again in the knockout stage, India lost to New Zealand by 18 runs in a rain-affected match at the Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester. England won the ODI World Cup for the first time.
In 2021, India reached the final of the ICC World Test Championship 2021 by topping the WTC table 2019-2021 with 72.2 percent. India faced New Zealand in the final where they lost the match by eight wickets at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton.
India was to host the T20 World Cup in 2021, the first ICC event to be held in India after the COVID-19 pandemic, but due to the rising number of coronavirus cases in India, the BCCI had to move it to the UAE. Had to be forced.
India had the worst start to their T20 World Cup 2021 campaign as they lost their first match to Pakistan and India had an unbeaten record in the World Cup against their traditional arch-rivals for 12 matches, including both the T20 World Cup and the ODI World Cup.
India also lost its next match in the World Cup. Defeat from New Zealand by 8 wickets. India defeated Afghanistan, Scotland and Namibia in other matches of the group stage but it was not enough to take them to the semi-final stage. Australia won the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 by winning the T20 title for the first time.
India had another chance to win the ICC title in 2022 as the T20 World Cup which Australia was supposed to host in 2020 was shifted to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
India began their World Cup campaign with a four-wicket win over Pakistan at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, avenging their 2021 T20 World Cup defeat. India topped the group by defeating other teams like Netherlands, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh except the match against South Africa in Perth, which it lost by five wickets.
With four wins in five group stage games, India faced eventual champions England in the semi-finals in Adelaide and lost the match in humiliating fashion by 10 wickets, ending their World Cup dream. England became champion in both white ball formats, ODI and T20.
In the year 2023, India got the hosting of the ODI World Cup after 12 years. India was the sole host this time, unlike 1987, 1996 and 2011 when other Asian countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were also involved.
India had its best performance so far in the World Cup by winning all the matches till the semi-finals. The Rohit Sharma-led side defeated Australia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, defending champions England, South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Netherlands to top the points table and face the Kiwis in the semi-finals.
India recorded another comprehensive win in the semi-finals, with Virat Kohli breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s 20-year-old record of 673 runs for most runs in an ODI World Cup and also breaking his record for most centuries in ODIs. Mohammed Shami was also the best performer by an Indian in ODIs with 7 wickets for 57 runs.
India faced Australia in the final at the world’s largest cricket stadium, Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. But despite home conditions and huge fan base in their favour, they faced defeat and the wait for the ICC trophy continued.
Virat Kohli won the ‘Player of the Tournament’ award by scoring 765 runs, while Mohammed Shami took the highest wickets with 24, but the World Cup is still away from the Indian team and the wait continues. Fans will hope that this will culminate in the coming year 2024 with the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 to be played in West Indies and USA from June 4, 2024. The new year will bring a new opportunity for the ‘Men in Blue’. End their ICC trophy drought.
