Cricket is the loneliest of team sports. Batting and bowling, its two fundamental components, are essentially solitary activities. When a bowler runs into the crease or a batter lifts their gaze to meet the ball, nobody can help them. They are responsible for their own fate. Even if other teammates may be in the vicinity, they can do nothing to influence where a ball is pitched or where it goes from there. This is why it is common to see batters and bowlers play within themselves, sometimes entering the so-called “flow state” where everything happens seamlessly, as a player immerses themself in a universe of one.
In a tournament like the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, inhabiting the flow state — characterised by complete focus, heightened awareness of one’s instincts as well as a shrewd reading of the match situation — is generally seen in one or two players per team. Even among the squads that have gone on to lift the World Cup in the past, not more than three players have enjoyed the tournament of their lives. Not so for this juggernaut of an Indian team, which has no less than five masters of the ODI game hitting peak performance when it matters most. Ahead of the biggest game of their lives in Ahmedabad on Sunday, My Kolkata analyses Team India’s fab five — Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami.
O Captain, my selfless Captain!
Rohit Sharma has been the most aggressive batter in the first 10 overs at this World Cup
Effortless has been used to describe Rohit for so long that it might as well be his middle name. At this World Cup, however, there is another adjective that is just as apt for the Hitman — selfless. Leading from the front by bludgeoning from the front, Rohit has sacrificed personal milestones for the sake of giving India the kind of launchpads that NASA would be proud of! His 550 runs in the tournament so far have come at a strike rate of 124.15. Within the field restrictions of the first 10 overs, he has been more brutal than anybody else in the competition, hammering 42 fours and 21 sixes while striking at 133.08. Apart from his two single-digit scores against Australia and Sri Lanka, Rohit has been out caught playing aggressive shots in six of his eight innings, having crossed 40 each time. If pummelling before perishing for the cause were a motto, then Rohit has lived by it. Aside from his sublime century against Afghanistan, Rohit’s two highest knocks, of 86 against Pakistan and 87 against England, have coincided with the only two times Kohli has failed to reach at least a half century at the other end.
As skipper on the field, Rohit has shuffled his pack to brilliant effect, going in for the kill with the pacers whenever possible alongside using Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja as defensive options as per the state of the game. Against New Zealand in the semi-final, with Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell going great guns, the Rohit of a few years ago may well have panicked under pressure. But the 36-year-old kept his wits about himself, bringing Shami back into the attack to break the partnership. Regardless of what happens in the final, Rohit has been a revelation at this World Cup, an exemplary leader for generations to follow.
King Kohli in complete control
Virat Kohli has run more ones and twos than any other batter at this World Cup
It is no secret that Kohli is an admirer of Cristiano Ronaldo. Just like Ronaldo’s Real Madrid teammates, who helped CR7 win three consecutive UEFA Champions League titles between 2016 and 2018, India’s batting lineup has played for and around Kohli, negating his weaknesses and amplifying his strengths. With Real, Ronaldo’s job was not to defend, dribble or even create chances. He had to be in the penalty box to score goals. Similarly, with India, Kohli’s job at this World Cup has not been to smash the leather off the ball at any point in an innings. Rather, his role has been to control the game by asserting his own pace and tempo on it. This has resulted in 711 runs for Kohli, the most by any batter at a single edition of the World Cup. Dig deeper and you will find that 398 out of those 711 runs have been scored in ones and twos, also a tournament best. Kohli’s eight scores of 50 or more at a World Cup is another record, but what will make him happier is that only once out of those eight times has he got out for less than 85. Just like Rohit did for him, Kohli, too, has taken additional responsibility when the Indian captain has not fired, with 85 against Australia and 88 against Sri Lanka. Even though Kohli’s strike rate of 90.68 is the lowest in India’s top five, his ability to occupy the crease and put a value on his wicket has paid dividends.
Most importantly, Kohli has done what few athletes in modern sport can do as well as him — rise to the occasion. Heading into the tournament with 47 ODI hundreds, Kohli’s embrace of history, during which he equalled and then eclipsed Sachin Tendulkar, could not have been better timed. For a man who writes his own scripts, a compelling climax awaits in Ahmedabad.
Iyer stepping up to the ‘four’
No batter with 400-plus runs at this World Cup has faced fewer dot balls than Shreyas Iyer
After six outings at this World Cup, Iyer was not only out of the reckoning for India’s fab five but on the verge of being out of the XI altogether. Those half-a-dozen games had yielded just 134 runs at an average of 26.80 and a strike rate of 84.81. In the four games since, Iyer has piled on 392 runs at an average of 130.66 and a strike rate of 127.68. Between overs 35 and 50, only two batters, Glenn Maxwell and Heinrich Klaasen, have scored faster than Iyer, who has played just 39 dots in the final 15 overs at this tournament. His aggregate of 526 runs means that this Indian team is the first in World Cup history to have three separate batters accumulate more than 500 runs in a single edition. Out of Iyer’s 526 runs, 144 have come in sixes alone, second only to Rohit. Alongside Kohli, Iyer has put on 537 runs over the past month-and-a-half, making up the most prolific partnership at this World Cup. A key feature of the Kohli-Iyer duo has been the rotation of strike, which is why it is no surprise to see that of all the batters who have scored more than 400 runs or more during this tournament, Iyer has faced the fewest dot balls.
Having struggled with the number four slot for most of this century, India have finally found their man in 2023. Combining bags of self-belief with an underrated ease in moving through the gears, Iyer has stepped up to the ‘four’ and how!
Bumrah’s quiet brilliance
Jasprit Bumrah has a dot ball percentage of 78 during the first powerplay at this World Cup
It is not often that Bumrah plays 10 games in a competition and takes only one four-for, that too against Afghanistan. But Bumrah’s 18 wickets at this World Cup are just the tip of the iceberg, especially considering how cautious teams have been at seeing out his overs. In a tournament where Rohit has broken the shackles in the first 10 overs, Bumrah has tightened the noose like no other during the same period. His economy rate of 3.13 in the first powerplay belongs to a different century, as does his dot ball percentage of 78. In other words, if Bumrah bowls an over during what is considered to be the one of the highest-scoring phases in a game, he is likely to bowl four, if not five, dot balls. At the death, Bumrah is slightly more expensive, but still very much in a league of his own, going at just over five runs per over. His nine wickets during the last 10 overs of an innings are the second-most at this World Cup, which is both impressive and inevitable, given his peerless potency at executing yorkers.
But go beyond the numbers and you see the unquantifiable in Bumrah. It starts with how his arm speed offers no clue of his variations in line, length or pace, moves on to the way he sets up batters, if not for himself then for his partner-in-crime at the other end, by putting a leash on their offence, and culminates in the most innocent of smiles attached to the most lethal of skill-sets. Over the years, the World Cup has witnessed the meticulousness of Glenn McGrath as well as the mercurial genius of Wasim Akram. In Bumrah this year, the two seem to have come together to produce the most complete fast bowler of the modern era.
Leaving opponents in a ‘Shami-bles’!
With his seven wickets against New Zealand in the semi-final, Mohammed Shami became the first Indian bowler to take 50 wickets or more on the grandest stage
The final member of the fab five is someone who did not bowl a single ball for the first four games of India’s World Cup. Since then, thanks in part to an injury to Hardik Pandya, Shami has picked up a wicket every 11 balls, averaging five runs per scalp, with three five-fors to his name. Seventeen out of Shami’s 23 wickets at this World Cup, which have also made him the only Indian bowler to take 50 or more wickets on the grandest stage, have been dismissals of batters in the opposition’s top six. Twelve of his 23 wickets have come in the first 20 overs of an innings, the joint-best at the tournament, even though he has come in as first-change behind Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. Against New Zealand in Mumbai, Shami single-handedly eliminated the Kiwi’s top five, redeeming himself for dropping Williamson’s catch and then some more. His seven for 53 in the semi-final are the best figures for an Indian in ODIs and only the fifth time that someone of any nationality has taken seven in a World Cup match.
Just over a year ago, Shami was viciously trolled after India lost by 10 wickets against England to exit the T20 World Cup in Australia. The trolling may have been catalysed by his mediocre display but was sustained largely because of his religion. In a country where cricket has never been more politicised, Shami’s protagonism at this World Cup is a thumping response to those who have questioned his commitment to his country, let alone his team. Win or lose the final, Shami’s 2023 World Cup campaign has been one for the ages, a testament to the tenacity of one man and his desire to prove that he belongs.
