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ICC World Cup 2023: India have a shot at glory if they can handle the pressure
Even the prayers of a billion people will never be enough if the team fail to rise to the challenge of delivering under pressure
Indian cricketers Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya arrive at the Chennai airport ahead of their World Cup match against Australia. — PTI
When the ODI World Cup happened in India in 2011, the IPL was just three seasons old and T20 cricket was not that popular. ODI was still popular those days and with MS Dhoni winning the title, Indian fans, who had waited for 28 years after their first win in 1983, went berserk as Mumbai and the whole of India celebrated that win for many days.
But since then India have not won any World Cup — be it the T20 or the 50 overs World Cup.
And with the 15th edition of the World Cup starting on Thursday, the hopes of Indian fans have again grown as all the purists have been saying that India are the favourites and this is India’s World Cup.
It’s been 12 long years and India have played five T20 World Cups and two 50 overs World Cups during this period. More often than not, India have gone into the tournaments as favourites barring the 2015 ODI World Cup.
But this time around, the buzz is on from all corners that this is India’s best chance to add the third title to their cabinet.
But playing at home has its own pressure. In the 2011 World Cup, which I had followed closely, social media had just picked up but it was not as popular as it is now. The Indian team was under immense pressure after the 2007 first round exit, but MS Dhoni was brilliant as captain, helping the team become the first side to win a title at home.
A lot has changed in 12 years and social media is taking the world by storm — everyone is only talking about the World Cup.
The television ads say we have waited for long, this time the World Cup has to come home.
Cricket is a religion in India and everything comes to a halt when a World Cup happens, that too in India. Rohit Sharma, the captain, has never won a 50-over World Cup as a player and the next six weeks will be the most testing period of his whole career where he needs to pass this acid test.
Past captains like Mohammad Azharuddin (1992, 96, 99), Sourav Ganguly (2003), Rahul Dravid (2007) and Virat Kohli (2019) could not get their hands on this coveted trophy.
Dhoni and Kapil Dev are more worshipped because they could win the World Cup for their die-hard fans. Apparently, even Prime Minister Modi desperately wants to see India win the World Cup before the next general elections.
But a World Cup is won or lost on the field.
Even the prayers of a billion people and their leader will never be enough if the team fail to rise to the challenge of delivering under pressure.
Indian players have the skills, but do they have the temperament to win the World Cup?
These six weeks will give us the answer.
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