The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 has reached its business end after the completion of the 45 league matches.
The teams are locked for the last-four stage. While India will take on New Zealand in the first semi-final in Mumbai on November 15, Australia and South Africa will square off in the second semi-final in Kolkata on November 16.
India were the most dominant side in the league stage as they won all their nine games comprehensively.
Ahead of the semi-final, India head coach Rahul Dravid revealed how the team had embraced a unique challenge before commencing their World Cup campaign.
With nine matches scheduled in as many different venues, Rohit Sharma and his men committed to giving their best performance at each location to delight their ardent fans.
"We set ourselves a little bit of a challenge ahead of the World Cup. Thousands of fans in nine different cities, and the passion of our fans.
“We really wanted to put our best foot forward and give a really good display. And I think the boys have responded and done really well," Dravid told Star Sports after India’s crushing 160-run victory over Netherlands in Bangalore on Sunday (November 12).
Coming to the match, India won the toss and opted to bat first. Riding on hundreds from Shreyas Iyer (128*) and KL Rahul (102) and half-centuries from Rohit Sharma (61), Shubman Gill (51) and Virat Kohli (51), the hosts piled up a massive 410/4 on the board.
Defending the huge total, the Indian bowlers bundled out the Dutch for 250 in 47.5 overs. Jasprit Bumrah (2-33 in 9 overs), Mohammed Siraj (2-29 in 6 overs), Kuldeep Yadav (2-41 in 10 overs) and Ravindra Jadeja (2-49 in 9 overs) returned with two wickets each.
The Indian coach was satisfied with the team’s performance against Netherlands after a week-long break.
"We had six days off, so it was really nice to get a game before the semifinals. Just to get those cobwebs out, it was good we got what we needed. Five of our batsmen getting in there, getting their starts. A couple of boys going on and getting some really good hundreds."
Dravid also opined that the experimentation with the ball benefitted the side.
"And then with the ball as well, just gave us an opportunity after we got that big score to be able to mix and match a little bit and look at some of the other options that hopefully we don’t need. But we may need."
Dravid expressed great confidence in his batting unit and was particularly impressed with the middle-order.
"I think our middle-order has been fantastic. Obviously, the top-order gets to bat all the time and has been scoring a lot of runs for us. When you look at the leaderboard on the numbers, you’ll see the Kohlis and the Sharmas, and rightly so.
"They’ve been batting fantastically and batting really well. But the middle-order is critical because you’re always playing in pressure situations.
"They don’t always play every single game, sometimes they get to bat after 30 overs when the ball is soft, when the ball is older. The wicket is getting slower as well, and for them to bat the way they are, whether it is Shreyas [Iyer], whether it is KL [Rahul], you know even Jaddu [Ravindra Jadeja] or even Surya [Suryakumar Yadav] in the knock he got.
"It just gives us the confidence that we’ve got that experience, we’ve got the ability and we’ve also got them in form and playing really well getting into the semifinals."
(With IANS Inputs)
