World Cup 2023: Shreyas-Shubman’s edge, Siraj’s’swing magic’ returned… Five positive messages reached India before the South Africa match.
World Cup 2023: Team India is in full glory, with players whose form was questioned returning to form.Team India received 5 important messages after beating Sri Lanka and before facing South Africa on November 5.
In the 2023 World Cup, Team India faced questions before their match against Sri Lanka on November 2nd.The form of some players was a headache for Rohit Sharma.Captain Rohit wondered when these players would excel in the World Cup.At Wankhede, Team India defeated Sri Lanka by 302 runs and ‘informed’ the ‘out of form’ players.
Mohammed Siraj, Shreyas Iyer, and Shubman Gill’s performance against Sri Lanka showed that the team is ‘all is well’.India and the World Cup 2023 trophy have played four matches.These include 2 league matches.The semi-finals and final follow.
Rohit Brigade plays South Africa on November 5 and Netherlands on November 12.After that is the semi-final (15 or 16 November) and the World Cup final (19 November).
After beating Sri Lanka and before facing South Africa, Rohit Sharma and team received 5 positive messages.
1: Siraj looked deadly for the first time all tournament.
Sri Lanka and India played the Asia Cup final at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on 17 September 2023.This match saw India limit Sri Lanka to 50 runs.Mohammad Siraj was the hero.Siraj’s 6/21 spell in the final match was dangerous.Mohammed Siraj was expected to be consistent for Team India in the World Cup, but he disappointed.
He took Mitchell Starc’s wicket in the World Cup opener against Australia, spelling 6.3-1-26-1.His next match against Afghanistan was costly as he went wicketless for 76 runs in 9 overs.Siraj showed his strength by taking 2 wickets against Pakistan.He took 2 wickets against Bangladesh.One wicket for Siraj against New Zealand.Siraj was wicketless again in the match against England.
Siraj used the crease and trapped Sri Lankan batsmen, looking like the same ‘Siraj’ from the Asia Cup final in Colombo.Watching his balls move was interesting.A Siraj ball swung so much that wicketkeeper KL Rahul was caught.Siraj bowled well (7-2-16-3) against Sri Lanka.
2. Mohammed Shami was the most consistent World Cup player.
‘If we get a chance, we will tell you…’ Mohammed Shami may have taken 14 wickets in three World Cup matches.Two of these were five wickets against New Zealand in Dharamshala and Sri Lanka in Mumbai.Shami took 4 wickets against England in Lucknow.Since getting his World Cup chance, Shami has been consistent.He is now India’s highest World Cup wicket taker.Shami has 45 wickets in 14 World Cup matches in 2015, 2019, and 2023.
Mohammed Shami delivered a brutal spell to become India's highest wicket-taker in the men's @cricketworldcup 💪#INDvSL #CWC23 pic.twitter.com/orYRsqJG6z
— ICC (@ICC) November 2, 2023
Mohammed Shami’s World Cup journey:
VS New Zealand, 10-0-54-5, 22 October
29 October: 7-2-22-4 vs. England
VS Sri Lanka, 5-1-18-5, 2 November
3: Shubman Gill also improved.
Dengue prevented Shubman Gill from playing in India’s first two World Cup matches.He then played against Pakistan at Narendra Modi Stadium on October 14.Gill scored 16 runs in his World Cup debut.Shubman Gill scored 53 runs against Bangladesh in Pune on October 19.Gill scored 26 runs against New Zealand on October 22 and 9 against England on October 29.Gill scored 53 runs in Pune, but captain Rohit expected more.
Gill decided to make a splash at Wankhede Stadium on November 2.A 92-run inning followed.Before Team India’s big matches, Shubman warned other teams to be cautious of him for knockout matches despite missing the century.
4: Shreyas Iyer hit well as a pinch hitter.
Shreyas Iyer was Team India’s biggest concern this far.In the first match against Australia, he was out on 0.He then scored runs in Afghanistan (25 not out), Pakistan (53 not out), Bangladesh (19), New Zealand (33), and England (4).His short-ball weakness was obvious.Iyer also returned to form against Sri Lanka, scoring 82 runs in 56 balls at 146.42.He hit 3 fours and 6 sixes in this innings.
5: Team India is not player-dependent.
Another major takeaway from this World Cup is that Team India is not dependent on any one player.As in the first match, KL Rahul (97) and Virat Kohli (85) lost 3 wickets for 2 runs after Rohit Sharma (0), Ishan Kishan (0), and Shreyas Iyer (0) flopped against Australia. By winning, Team India showed that it came to the World Cup with a different goal.Virat Kohli (16) and Shubhman Gill (16) struggled against Pakistan on October 14.Rohit Sharma (86), Shreyas Iyer (53 not out), and KL Rahul (19 not out) led this innings.
After Hardik Pandya was injured against Bangladesh on October 19, Team India debated his replacement.In response, Suryakumar Yadav tried to compensate.He was run out on 2 in the first match on 22 October due to a Virat mistake.He scored 49 runs against England in a crucial match.Surya (12) missed a crucial innings at home in Mumbai.