New Delhi: The Rohit Sharma-led Indian team has been on a roll since October, thanks to their unbeaten run in the 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup.
The dominating run of winning ten games on the trot has meant that two-time champions India have stormed into the title clash, where they face a mighty Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.
Here is a look at India’s unbeaten journey into the 2023 Men’s World Cup final, where they have travelled extensively and given tons of happiness to their loyal fans with sterling performances.
Match 1, October 8: India beat Australia by six wickets in Chennai
Indian spinners, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav took six wickets collectively to bowl out Australia for just 199 in 49.3 overs. In response, Australia caused early jitters in the Indian camp by reducing them to 2-3 in two overs.
But a stunning 165-run partnership off 215 balls between KL Rahul (97 not out) and Virat Kohli (85) carried India to a memorable six-wicket win over Australia to start their campaign on a high.
Match 2, October 11: India beat Afghanistan by eight wickets in New Delhi
Jasprit Bumrah bowled a fiery spell of 4-39 to keep Afghanistan to 272/8. What seemed to be a tricky chase of 273 was made a cakewalk by captain Rohit Sharma smashing 131 and local lad Virat Kohli entertaining the home crowd with 55 not out to maintain India’s good start in the competition.
Match 3, October 14: India beat Pakistan by seven wickets in Ahmedabad
In a high-octane clash, India’s bowlers, led by Bumrah, took two wickets each to trigger a stunning middle-overs collapse, as Pakistan lost eight wickets for 36 runs, to end on a paltry 191. Rohit again dazzled with the bat to make 83 while Shreyas Iyer scored 53 not out to make it a hat-trick of wins for India.
Match 4, October 19: India beat Bangladesh by seven wickets in Pune
After losing Hardik Pandya to a left ankle injury, India were kept briefly on the backfoot, before Ravindra Jadeja took 2-38 and was superb on the field to keep Bangladesh to 256/8. Rohit and Shubman Gill had an 88-run opening stand before Kohli took over to score an unbeaten 103, his 48th ODI hundred, to chase down the total with 51 balls remaining.
Match 5, October 22: India beat New Zealand by four wickets in Dharamsala
Playing in his first World Cup match, Mohammed Shami spearheaded an Indian fightback in the last ten overs to pick a superb 5-54 and bowl out New Zealand for 273. In reply, Kohli slammed a brilliant 95 off 104 balls while Jadeja played a valuable cameo of 39 not out to help India go on top of the points table with a four-wicket win over New Zealand
Match 6, October 29: India beat England by 100 runs in Lucknow
Rohit top-scored for India with 87 while Suryakumar Yadav made a crucial 49 in the back-end as India made 229/9 on a tricky two-paced pitch. Shami took 4-22, Bumrah was superb in his spell of 3-32 as they left England four down in the first ten overs.
Kuldeep was great with 2-24 while Jadeja took 1-16 as India gave a fantastic display of accuracy to bowl out England for 129 in 34.5 overs, coming back on top of the table.
Match 7, November 2: India beat Sri Lanka by 302 runs in Mumbai
India made 357/8, with Gill, Kohli and Iyer smashing knocks of 92, 88 and 82, giving Sri Lanka a huge mountain to climb. Bumrah, Shami and Siraj made the new ball talk in such a great manner that Sri Lanka were bowled out for just 55 in 19.4 overs.
Bumrah had figures of 1-8 in five overs, while Siraj made up for an indifferent time in the tournament by bamboozling the batters with swing and seam to take 3-16 in seven overs. Shami shined the brightest by taking 5-18 in five overs, continuing his excellent run.
Match 8, November 5: India beat South Africa by 243 runs in Kolkata
On his 35th birthday, Kohli equalled Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 ODI centuries with a brilliant 101 not out against South Africa, and was backed by a fine 77 from Iyer for India to post 326/5. Jadeja took career-best figures of 5-33 while Kuldeep took two wickets as South Africa were bowled out for 83 in 27.1 overs.
Match 9, November 12: India beat The Netherlands by 160 runs in Bengaluru
India made 410/4, as KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer made centuries, with captain Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli making fifties each. In reply, the Netherlands were bowled out for 250 in 47.5 overs, with Siraj, Bumrah, Kuldeep and Jadeja taking two wickets each, with Virat and Rohit having a scalp too.
Semi-final, November 15: India beat New Zealand by 70 runs in Mumbai
Kohli made a stunning 117, also his 50th century in ODIs, and went past the legendary Sachin Tendulkar’s long-standing tally of 49 ODI centuries, which ironically happened in front of the legend at his home ground.
Shubman Gill made 80 not out off 66 balls, while Shreyas Iyer made a fine 105 in front of his home crowd as India made 397/4.
Mohammed Shami took 7-57 to bowl out New Zealand for 327, thus sealing India’s place in the title clash.
(IANS)
