The ODI World Cup 2023 is just two months away and the fans across the world are in anticipation to watch the best teams on the planet to have a go at each other for the coveted prize. The Indian Cricket Team like many others are gearing up for the extravaganza at home. But the team has copped criticism from some part for their continuous experimental approach in the three-match ODI series against West Indies.
As said by head coach Rahul Dravid, the team wanted to give opportunities to fresh players ahead of the upcoming multi-nation tournaments like the Asia Cup and the World Cup."Honestly, this was our last chance to be able to try out some of our players," Dravid had said after India's loss to West Indies in the second ODI. The Men in Blue are facing injury issues in recent times and had a good window to try out fresh or new faces for the tournament. However, the hit-and-trial method has not been just a series old as the Indian team has fielded as many as 44 players in the 42 ODIs played by the Men in Blue since March 2021.
Notably, there have been 19 players who have made their ODI debuts in just these 42 games, hinting at continuous chop and change two years before the 50-over World Cup.
Players to make ODI debut since 2021
The 19 players to make their debut since 2021 are Krunal Pandya, Prasidh Krishna, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Rahul Chahar, Krishnappa Gowtham, Nitish Rana, Chetan Sakariya, Sanju Samson, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Avesh Khan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravi Bishnoi, Shahbaz Ahmed, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Kuldeep Sen and Mukesh Kumar. This is also due to the two T20 World Cups in 2021 and 2022 when the senior pros mostly played T20Is and fewer ODIs in those two years. But there is also a reduction in the number of ODI games played by India in the 2023 buildup in comparison to the 2011 buildup.
Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra talked about India's preparations for the 2023 World Cup and compared them with the preparations for the 2011 edition, which India won. He stated that the Indian team has played far fewer matches in the build-up to the 2023 tournament than it played ahead of the 2011 edition. "There is one significant difference in the build-ups of 2011 and 2023 World Cups, which is the amount of T20 cricket being played. I still remember we were very reluctant to play T20 cricket even after winning the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007. It was then two different formats at the international level played by the team.
No one played less than 50 ODIs before 2011 WC - Chopra
The former batter then went on to draw comparisons between the matches played by the players. "The ODI side then was playing so much cricket together that it was like a well-oiled machine. It was a fairly senior team, not necessarily in terms of age, but they had played a lot of cricket. I don’t recall anybody playing less than 50 ODIs before the World Cup actually started. Definitely not in the batting department, as well as in the bowling department too as the likes of Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra had played a lot of cricket by then.
"So, that stands out as a key difference in terms of how the build-up is right now. If KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer are available, then it suddenly becomes a very different unit. But God forbid, if they are not there, then you are looking at somebody who’s got 20 ODIs under his belt playing for India," he said on JioCinema.
