India completed a near-perfect 2023 in one-day internationals with a rare series victory against South Africa. It would have been perfect if they had managed to win the ODI World Cup last month, but nothing could take away their astonishing record of 10 consecutive victories.

India must show their best performance this year. World Cup at home after 12 years. The stakes are higher than ever. In 2011, India became the first host nation to win an ODI World Cup, before Australia and England joined them in the elite club in 2019. It is now the responsibility of India to repeat the feat. This time, the concept of home advantage is a thing of the past, given the large number of international cricketers playing here in the Indian Premier League.

At the start of the year, India faced a number of problems. In December 2022, India suffered a series of shock defeats against Banadesh, Virat Kohli’s form was still unstable, Rohit Sharma himself was trying to set the tone and Rishabh Pant was sidelined indefinitely after a car accident. To complicate matters further, India will be without KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer for months – they were added to the squad just days before the Asia Cup, with no evidence of their best form in international cricket. high level.

Critics were unimpressed that India rarely fielded their best XI for most of the year. However, they beat Sri Lanka and New Zealand consecutively in the series before losing to Australia. A victory against the West Indies doesn’t do us much good simply because they didn’t even qualify for the World Cup.

However, the Asian Cup changed the perspective. India inflicted a crushing defeat on Pakistan in a rain-interrupted Super Four match, and a few days later Mohammed Siraj crushed Sri Lanka in the final.

The World Cup is very important for Virat Kohli. He broke Sachin Tendulkar’s record for most ODI hundreds with a memorable 50 at the Wankhede Stadium and finished the tournament with a record number of runs. Mohammed Shami joined the playing squad late but eventually became the top scorer in the World Cup. Rohit Sharma gave a warning and signaled his team to bat aggressively. India is brilliant. They were undefeated and no one expected India to not win the trophy in the end. But Australia had other plans for the night of November 19.

The ODI series in South Africa lacks context, but it also provides an opportunity for some Indian fringe players to stand out. No one capitalized on his chances better than Arshdeep Singh, who took five wickets in the first ODI and four in the third ODI. Coincidentally, Sanju Samson finally scored an ODI hundred in the decider as India erased the memories of a lackluster performance on South African shores two years ago.

It was a special year for India. It could be much better, but the future is here. India now has answers to many “what if” questions.

Shubman Gill finished the 2023 season as top scorer, Shreyas Iyer excelled at the World Cup and Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rinku Singh assured doubters that the future was in safe hands.