2023: A last hurrah before transition in Indian cricket?

Indian squad for the T20 World Cup 2022. (Photo: Twitter/Yuzi_Chahal)

The Indian team is full of players past their best years. Bones and joints are creaking, the collective agility of the side is on the wane, and fitness standards have never been worse. Two T20 World Cups have gone abegging in two years, with the side playing a meek, outdated version of the sport. To make matters worse, there is a somewhat uneasy relationship between a few seniors.

I am speaking about the state of Indian men’s cricket today, but I could have said the exact same words in January 2011 and they’d have been true. India had after all flopped at the 2009 and 2010 T20 World Cups, and was carrying a squad whose best Test years were behind them.

2011 was a Dickensian year, in that it was the best of times and it was the worst of times. That year, India went on to famously win the ODI World Cup at home, before crumbling ignominiously in England and later Australia, prompting a long overdue squad revamp. Ageing seniors were axed, new players were blooded, and it took a good couple of years before the tide turned. 2023 could well be another one of those years. The team is on the cusp of a massive overhaul, but before that, there are a couple of opportunities for one last hurrah.

First, the World Test Championship. India are within striking distance of the final, after having blanked Bangladesh 2-0. Their cause has been helped by South Africa’s poor run in Australia. If India win, at least, three of their four Tests against Australia at home, they should make the final. Even two wins may suffice, depending on how South Africa fares in their last Test in Australia, starting this week.

In order to win the WTC, India will need to beat Australia well enough at home to make the final, and then beat them again at Lord’s in the final. No part of that will be easy, and India go into the home series on the shakiest ground they’ve experienced in a long time. They will be without the talismanic Rishabh Pant, who thankfully survived a horrific car crash with relatively minor injuries, but will be out of action for a while. The fitness of Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah remains under doubt, and even if they do recover in time, they will be coming in relatively cold.

But what threatens India’s position the most is the top order’s vulnerability against quality spin as well as the new ball. Barring Rohit Sharma, Pant and Cheteshwar Pujara in patches, the Test line-up has been tormented by spin in recent months. The near-defeat against Bangladesh in Chattogram is a sign of just how bad things have become. India will hope that Rohit and Jadeja are back for the Australia Tests, and will also count on Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill for runs. The Australia series is going to be a proper head-scratcher for everyone from selectors to pitch curators — rolling out turners could explode on their faces, while "sporting" pitches may also play into the hands of Australia’s world-class fast-bowling attack.

The WTC cycle is so long that England, despite being the best Test team in the last 12 months, aren’t even close to contention for the final. India, unlike England, were excellent in Tests for most of the cycle before going into decline in 2022. They have what it takes to make it to the final, and maybe, even win the thing.

If they do win — and more so if they fail — the focus will fall squarely on the 2023 ODI World Cup, set to happen in India. Unlike in 2011, top flight teams don’t play much ODI cricket anymore. The last two years, being T20 World Cup years, in particular have been heavy on T20s at the cost of ODIs. This, in a sense, works in India’s favour. First, their limited-overs squad is more attuned to ODIs than T20 cricket, which is one of the reasons they keep failing at the latter. Next, since ODIs have become so sporadic, most teams have not identified their groove for the format yet. England are ahead of the class, having simplified their approach to all formats to "attack at all costs". They will go in as favourites to defend their 2019 crown, but India, with familiar crowds and conditions to back them, will be strong contenders, too.

As fitness issues ballooned out of proportion through 2022, the conversation once again turned towards excessive cricket. Invariably, the IPL is in the firing line, with the BCCI committing to monitoring player workloads during the tournament. It will be interesting to see if the board actually bars their top players from playing the full IPL season. Don’t bet on it though — the board is too deeply entrenched with franchise owners, and there’s too much money riding on the stars to allow them breaks during the IPL.

It’s not often that you go this far into a piece on Indian cricket without mentioning Virat Kohli. Of all the players in India’s set up, 2023 will be most crucial for Kohli. His stock has taken a beating, runs have deserted him in Tests, and he’s been accused of playing too carefully in the shorter versions. Kohli’s name is often, deservedly, invoked in the same breath as Sachin Tendulkar. One of Tendulkar’s remarkable qualities was his ability to keep reinventing himself with the times, and coming back with a new method every time form, injuries or bowlers challenged him. Everyone wrote Tendulkar off after 2007, only for him to hit back with a glorious run after that, culminating in that 2011 World Cup win. (He should have retired at that point, but that’s a discussion for another time).

Will Kohli’s 2023 be a repeat of Tendulkar’s 2011? Winter is coming in Indian cricket, but can they pull off the Test Championship and the One-Day World Cup before that? Strap in for the ride — thrills and spills are guaranteed.