The 2023 International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s Cricket World Cup, recently played in India, was the 13th edition of the Cricket World Cup. The tournament was held in 10 different cricket stadiums, all over India, between October 5, 2023 and November 19, 2023. Ten nations from around the world qualified for the 2023 ICC World Cup. It is a quadrennial (held once in four years) One-Day International (ODI) cricket tournament with 50 overs each side, contested by various national teams. The final match of the tournament was held at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, on November 19, 2023, between India and Australia. Australia won the title for the sixth time.
The Participants
The 13th ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup was the first Men’s Cricket World Cup hosted by India solely and organised by the ICC. Apart from India (the host), South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Afghanistan, England, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the Netherlands were the other countries which participated in the ICC World Cup 2023. The tournament was played in two parts: the round-robin stage and the knockouts. In the round-robin stage, all the 10 teams played once against each other. The team that won each game earned two points and the top four teams qualified to play in the semi-finals. In the semi-final stage, the team that came first in the points table played with the team that stood fourth in the points table. The teams with second and third positions in the points table played the second semi-final match. The winners of both the semi-finals played for the final.
Performance
In the knockout stage, India outperformed all its opponents and remained undefeated in all the nine consecutive games that it played. In the round-robin game between India and Sri Lanka, India won by beating Sri Lanka by 302 runs. It was the seventh game for India in the knockout stage. It was also the seventh successive win that qualified India for the semi-finals. In fact, India was the first team to qualify for the semi-finals. After their last knockout game against South Africa, on November 5, 2023, India won by 243 runs. This nineth consecutive win placed India on the top of the points table with 18 points and a net run rate (NRR) of 2.570.
India’s performance during the knockout stage:
- India beat Australia by six wickets in Chennai.
- India beat Afghanistan by eight wickets in New Delhi.
- India beat Pakistan by seven wickets in Ahmedabad.
- India beat Bangladesh by seven wickets in Pune.
- India beat New Zealand by four wickets in Dharamsala.
- India beat England by 100 runs in Lucknow.
- India beat Sri Lanka by 302 runs in Mumbai.
- India beat South Africa by 243 runs in Kolkata.
- India beat The Netherlands by 160 runs in Bengaluru.
South Africa was the second team to qualify for the semi-finals after Pakistan defeated New Zealand. Australia became the third team to qualify for the semi-final after it defeated Afghanistan in their knockout game. New Zealand qualified as the fourth semi-finalist team after Pakistan lost their final knockout match against England.
The match between India and Pakistan was played with much hype at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. India won the toss and decided to bowl first and bowled out the entire team of Pakistan for 191 runs. Indian bowlers Jaspreet Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Mohammad Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, and Ravindra Jadeja picked up two wickets each. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer performed well with the bat and guided India to a seven-wicket win over Pakistan.
Semi-Final Matches
In the first semi-final, India batted first, after winning the toss, and scored 397 runs against New Zealand. Virat Kohli hit his 50th ODI century and surpassed Sachin Tendulkar’s ODI century records. Shreyas Iyer, too, hit a century during the semi-final match. Indians bowled out the New Zealanders for 327 runs in 48.5 overs. Mohammed Shami took 7 wickets for 57 runs in his stipulated 10 overs. Thus, India entered the finals by beating New Zealand by 70 runs.
The second semi-final was held between Australia and South Africa. Australia scored 215 for 7 in 47.2 overs and won the match by three wickets, qualifying to face India in the final.
Final Match
The final match was played between Australia and India at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, on November 19, 2023. Australia won the toss and chose to bowl first. India scored 240 runs in the stipulated 50 overs. However, Australia achieved the winning target of 241 in 43 overs losing 4 wickets. Thus, Australia defeated India by six wickets and clinched their sixth ODI Men’s World Cup title.
Participants in the ICC Champions Trophy, 2025
Among the 10 teams that participated in this World Cup, eight teams—India, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Afghanistan, England, and Bangladesh—have qualified to play the ICC Champions Trophy to be held in Pakistan in 2025. Sri Lanka and the Netherlands need to play the qualifier matches to qualify for the ICC Champions Trophy in 2025.
Notable Performances of Indian Players
Indian batsman, Virat Kohli, scored the most runs in the tournament. In the 11 innings that he played, he scored runs at an average of 95.62, with three centuries and six half centuries. Virat Kohli hit 68 fours which was the highest in the tournament. Virat Kohli was declared the Player of the Tournament by the ICC.
Indian captain, Rohit Sharma, scored a total of 597 runs in the tournament at an average of 54.27 with one century and three half centuries. Rohit Sharma was the second highest run getter in the tournament. He gave a good start to the Indian team in all the games, except for the first game against Australia, where he got out without scoring a run. Further, his 31 sixers were the highest and 66 fours were the second highest in the tournament.
Among the bowlers, Indian pacer, Mohammed Shami, took 24 wickets from seven innings at an average of 10.79, and an economy rate of 5.26 runs per over. His best bowling figures were 7/57 against New Zealand. He had three five-wicket hauls in the tournament. With such a record performance, he became the bowler with the most number of wickets in the 2023 ICC World Cup.
Medium pacer, Jasprit Bumrah, was named the fourth best bowler in the 2023 ICC World Cup. He took 20 wickets in his 11 innings at an average of 18.65, and an economy rate of 4.06. His best bowling figure was 4/39 against Afghanistan. Bumrah created history and became the first Indian bowler to take a wicket in the first ball of an innings in a Cricket World Cup match when he dismissed the Sri Lankan batter, Pathum Nissanka, in the first ball of the match.
Team of the Tournament
After the conclusion of the World Cup, the ICC announced its team of the tournament. It contained six Indian players, while only two players were there from Australia. Rohit Sharma was named the captain of the team. The team comprised Quinton de Kock (South Africa), Rohit Sharma (India), Virat Kohli (India), Daryl Mitchell (New Zealand), KL Rahul (India), Glenn Maxwell (Australia), Ravindra Jadeja (India), Jasprit Bumrah (India), Dilshan Madushanka (Sri Lanka), Adam Zampa (Australia), and Mohammed Shami (India).
Prize Money
The total prize money allocated for the tournament was US$ 10 million. The winning team, Australia, received a cash prize of US$ 4,000,000, while the runner-up, India, received US$ 2,000,000. The losing semi-finalists, New Zealand and South Africa, received US$ 1,600,000. All the other teams that did not progress past the league stage received US$ 100,000, while the winner of each league stage match received US$ 40,000.
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