REVOLUTION OF INDIAN CRICKET

 

REVOLUTION OF INDIAN CRICKET

I am writing this blog on the back drop of the Champions Trophy win of India on 09-03-2025. There is also an unbelievable fact that India have won 23 out of 24 matches in their last 3 limited overs ICC tournaments with the only loss came on 2023 ODI final in India. This undefeated winning streak of Indian Cricket Team marks the complete revolution of Indian Cricket from the unforgettable knock out in group stages of the 2007 ODI World Cup only winning 2 out of their 4 group matches. Within 6 months of the knockout Indian Cricket experienced an unexpected rebirth of Cricket in India with M S Dhoni lifting the T20 World Cup with an inexperienced side who was both new to the format of T20 Cricket and the International Cricket against the pioneers of T20 cricket like Australia, South Africa and England.

There was also a time where we came close to lifting the ODI World Cup that was on 2003 where we lose to Australia but after that there was a downward trend of the quality of Cricket in India which sometimes showed exceptional skills to win matches out of difficult situations but there were sudden fall from strong positions in both ODI and Test matches. 2003 to 2007 period was difficult even with talents like Sachin, Ganguly, Dravid, Sehwag, Zaheer, Nehra, Sreenath, Kumble etc… But from September 2007 T20 World Cup onwards, there was a raise of never ending talent from senior and Junior Cricket and the power of consistency was slowly starting to show up in Indian Cricket which came a full circle when we won 2011 World Cup ODI in India. That tournament witnessed the complete takeover of Indian Cricket by new generation from old Generation.

From 2011 onwards we witnessed a consolidation of teams in every format for Indian Cricket and IPL and first class Cricket working as the supply chains to provide with players of skills and great temperament. Through this period after 2013 Champions Trophy win even though we didn’t win major Tournaments but we made sure that every time we are into Semifinals or even finals of major ICC Tournaments. There was also a phase after 2019 where the face and system of Indian Cricket Team has been reorganized with Virat and Rohit coming in to the helm of Indian Cricket. From 2019 onwards there was also a second string of players ready for any replacement in the main team and there was a pool of talented, ready for the big stage players who created a good headache for players in terms of selection. There was also a time in the recent past where Indian Team split into two teams’ one playing test and one playing T20. After winning 2025 Champions Trophy also there is a transition process going to happen sooner or later foreseeing the 2027 ODI World Cup.

In this discussion it is also important to mention about the familiarization of Indian Pitches to foreign players. You can imagine before IPL there was a least possibility of a national team other than India winning a series of any format in India even in the World Cups but then also there is a chance for subcontinental Teams like Srilanka and Pakistan like the 1996 World Cup winner Srilanka and there is also an exception of Australia in 2006 Champions Trophy held in India. But after the introduction of IPL on 2008 right after the T20 World Cup win, the familiarization of foreign players is started to show its effect after 8 years with West Indies winning 2016 T20 World Cup held in India and Australia winning 2023 ODI World Cup which was also held in India. This fact was evident in the latest failure of India to New Zealand in Test Series in which India lost all three tests to New Zealand.

The future Course of Indian Cricket is to become eligible to win a series in any surface of the World against any opposition in all three formats and to win our first World Test Championship and at the same time reclaim and continue its dominance in Indian Pitches especially as the 2026 T20 World cup, 2029 Champions Trophy and 2031 ODI World Cup is to be played in India.