2023 began with India getting glory at the inaugural edition of the Under-19 Women’s World Cup. Later, both the women’s and the men’s team participated at cricket in the Asian Games and returned with gold medals. The men also clinched the Asia Cup.
But there was heartbreak as well. India Women crashed out of the T20 World Cup, while India Men lost the final of both the World Test Championship and the 50-over World Cup – to various Australian teams.
On the up side again, India Men retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and won a series in the Caribbean. And as women’s Test cricket returned to the country, India Women beat England and Australia in the span of under a fortnight.
The WPL helped clinch unprecedented amounts in TV rights and was a roaring success. And having finally broken the shackles of COVID-19, the IPL returned to its home-and-away format, and fans thronged in thousands to watch their heroes at their home venues around the country.
What to expect in 2024, then? India returned from South Africa after levelling the series 1-1. This was the second time, after 2010/11, that they did not lose a series in the country. Perhaps more significantly, they picked up 12 points for the World Test Championship.
Three Indian squads – for the T20Is, the ODIs, the Test series – were in South Africa in December 2023, along with an India A team. By the time the last of them leaves, a fifth – the India Under-19s – will reach the Rainbow Nation for the World Cup.
Despite their recent defeats against Pakistan and Bangladesh, India will start the Under-19 World Cup as favourites. Across the last six editions, they have won 32 matches and lost four. Across the last three, the count reads 17-1. India made it to the final in five of these six editions and won thrice, in 2012, 2018, and 2022.
The senior team, meanwhile, will host Afghanistan for three T20Is in January, their last international matches in the format ahead of the T20 World Cup.
These will be followed by a five-match Test series against England at home, almost certainly with a different group of cricketers.
India have not lost a Test series at home in more than a decade, but even drawn Test matches may hurt them, more so if they return from South Africa empty-handed. A draw, after all, fetches only four points, and is closer to a defeat (zero) than to a win (twelve). To qualify for the WTC final, it is important for India to get as close to the 60 points on offer here. Rain has already denied them eight points at Port of Spain in July 2023.
Meanwhile, India Women, fresh from the twin Test match wins, will play three ODIs and three T20Is against Australia, which will spill into 2024. There is still no clarity over the exact date or venues for the 2024 WPL, but the BCCI secretary mentioned that it will “start in February”, and the matches will be played “in one state”.
Of course, the IPL will follow, though the schedule is not available yet. The national team may not find it easy this time. In 2023, the IPL ran from March 31 to May 29, allowing the Indians barely any time before the World Test Championship final, which began from June 7.
The 2024 T20 World Cup will start on June 4. The warmup matches are likely to start about ten days before that. For the cricketers to get ten days before that – this includes travel – the IPL needs to get over by mid-May.
Given that the IPL typically lasts two months, it must commence in mid-March – not too long after the England Test series gets over, on March 11.
The Ranji Trophy – where most IPL cricketers outside the Test squad will play – is also likely to extend up to March.
If the BCCI indeed draws up this breakneck schedule, the cricketers are likely to be jaded by the time the T20 World Cup arrives. They will be playing Test cricket for a month-and-a-half, followed by the relentlessness of the IPL.
The T20 World Cup will be done by June. Indian Women will also be visiting the Caribbean that month, for three ODIs and five T20Is.
In July, India Men will tour Sri Lanka for three ODIs and three T20Is, while Australia Women will come over for three ODIs.
After a small break, India will host Bangladesh Men for two Test matches and three T20Is in September, and New Zealand Men for three Test matches in October. In the same month, India Women will visit Bangladesh for the T20 World Cup. They will conclude the year with five Test matches in Australia – a tour that will spill over into 2025.
All in all, it will be a year as fulfilling as 2023, with three World Cups – Under-19 as well as the Women’s and the Men’s T20 – and two five-match Test series, not to mention the WPL and the IPL.
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