India At ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023: A SWOT Analysis

Long after the years go by, history judges a team by the number of world titles it manages to clinch in international cricket. Perhaps that is the reason why MS Dhoni acquires a hallowed space in Indian cricket history and in the world cricketing sphere with the wicketkeeper-batter being the only skipper in the world to have led his team all three International Cricket Council (ICC) titles in white-ball cricket while also leading the Test team to the number 1 rankings in world cricket.

India's last world title came in 2013 which was when Dhoni was at the helm of affairs as India beat England in the final to emerge as the ICC Champions Trophy winners. It has been 10 years since then, India have come close on a number of occasions while falling way short in one but the wait for a global trophy continues. Virat Kohli's otherwise superb stint as the skipper, long after he is done playing, will come under scrutiny for not being able to deliver a title and now all eyes are on Rohit Sharma's men.

As a leader, Rohit has already lost the T20 World Cup and the World Test Championship final and this could be his last chance at the helm of affairs in a tournament of this stature but for all the experience that he has as a player and as a leader and with the team seemingly peaking at the right time, there are more reasons than one why this could be India's year at the World Cup.

Let's dive deep into a SWOT Analysis of the Indian team ahead of the World Cup.

Strengths

a) Home Advantage: For pundits and fans alike might say that the world now has more experience than ever before of playing in Indian stadiums, playing an international cricket match in Indian venues against India can be an entirely different experience. Of course, knowing the conditions a bit make it a level-playing field for some teams whose stars are regular participants in the Indian Premier League (IPL), but when the crowd will back the home team and cheer for them in a crunch situation, it could be a dauting task for the opposition players. Moreover, the trend also suggests this could be India's chance with the last three ODI World Cups being bagged by the home team. 2011- India, 2015- Australia and 2019- England.

b) Firing Top-order: India's top-order has fired in recent matches. No one has forced Rohit Sharma to change his template but the opener has done so in order to give India a quickfire start in this format, giving India to brisk starts from where the middle order can build the innings. Shubman Gill has been in sublime form already, scoring runs for breakfast, lunch and dinner and when it comes to the crunch game and in tough situations, there are few people to turn your eyes to than Virat Kohli in the Indian colours, who too has been in great nick. If the three of them can continue their form in the World Cup, it could be a very difficult task for opposition bowlers to play catch up later in the innings.

c) Balanced Side: The addition of Ishan Kishan in the Playing 11 has made it a balanced side as it gives them a left-handed batting option in the middle order. His ability to play freely means India can bail themselves out from a difficult situation while others around like KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer can go about building an innings, if that is the need of the hour. In the bowling too, despite there not being a left-arm pacer in their ranks, India have one of the world's best pace attacks with Jasprit Bumrah back fit and firing all cylinders. Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur are confirmed all-round options at this stage with either of Axar Patel and Ravichanran Ashwin joining them in the side.

Weaknesses

a) Vulnerable against left-arm pacers: The India team's vulnerability against the left-arm pacers is well-documented. Especially against the swinging ball, India just struggle against the likes of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Trent Boult, Mitchell Starc among others. However, if they manage to find a way to survive the new-ball burst, India has some of the world's most fluent stroke makers in their side.

b) The New Chokers Of World Cricket: India is quickly gaining a reputation of being the new chokers of world cricket. There is a reason for that. In recent years, India just have not been able to do well in knock out games. They lost the T20 World Cup final in 2014, the T20 World Cup semifinal in 2016, the ICC Champions Trophy final in 2017, the ICC Men's World Cup 2019 semifinal in 2019, the T20 World Cup 2022 semifinal and ICC World Test Championship final in both the 2019-21 cycle as well as the 2021-23 cycle.

While there is nothing wrong in the quality of the side that has helped them reach the knockout stages in the first place, it is more of a mental block and the fear of failure that is now catching up with the team. Their ability to overcome that this time around could well be the differentiator in this edition of the World Cup.

Opportunities

a) Rohit Sharma The Captain: This will be a massive opportunity for Rohit Sharma the captain. While many argued that he deserved a chance to lead even before he was eventually named India's full-time captain, his stint as the leader has been marred with injuries to several key players including a long injury layoff to players like Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer. This will in fact be the first tournament where he can play with a full-strength squad at his disposal and given his reputation of leading a side well which is well-settled and clearly defining the role of the players in the team, it will be a fairytale of sorts if the man who was overlooked for a place in the side in the 2011 World Cup goes on to lead the team to their first World title in 10 years.

b) True Test Of The Young Blood: While the youngsters have delivered in the opportunities provided to them thus far, the World Cup will be a different best and a true test for the young blood like Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill. Performing at the world stage in pressure situation will be the key if India want to lift the World Cup and not everything can depend upon the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, if India want to lift the World Cup trophy for the first time since 2011.

Threats

a) Pressure: Playing at home is definitely an advantage for India but with it comes the pressure of expectation. Everyone will want India to deliver a title and it won't be an easy task just to walk around unaffected. With social media also a massive factor in today's age and age and a platform where everyone is free to share their views, the team that manages to cope with their nerves in an efficient manner and focus on the job at hand rather than thinking too much about the uncontrollable will have an advantage as they will be better equipped to perform their skills.

b) Injury:  Make no mistake, India will travel across nine venues for their nine league matches at the ICC Men's World Cup 2023. Some of these games will have short turnaround times and hence it shouldn't come as a surprise, should Team India rotate their key players especially if they find themselves in a comfortable position after four-five matches in the round-robin round. Fast bowlers- the likes of Bumrah and even all-rounder like Hardik Pandya- can be rested for a few matches, to keep them fresh for the knock-out matches. The physios will also have their tasks cut outs, managing the recovery of these players.

Squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav

India Fixtures:

Titles- 2 (1983, 2011)
Prediction: Finalists. India look favourites to go all the way to the finals where it could be anybody's game.