On Sunday, India took on Australia in the 2023 World cup final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
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Batting first, the Men in Blue got off to a good start thanks to captain Rohit Sharma before some excellent middle-overs bowling and fielding from Australia ended up restrciting them to 240. Virat Kohli (54) and KL Rahul (66) both scored half-centuries.
In reply, Australia began by scoring quickly but were 47/3 when Marnus Labuschagne joined hands with opener Travis Head. Head put the Indian attack to the sword, scoring a blistering 137 before being caught on the boundary with just two more runs to win. Glenn Maxwell came out to score the winning runs, and secure Australia's sixth World Cup.
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Does India need an overhaul for the next ODI World Cup?
The latest loss meant India remained without an ICC trophy for 10 years, despite making it to five finals and four semifinals in that time. But does the team need to go back to the drawing board ahead of the next World Cup in 2027?
Of India's initial squad of 15 players, eight were 30 years old or above, with Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja aged 36, 34, 36 and 34 respectively. In addition, Mohammed Shami turned 33 during the tournament, and Suryakumar Yadav is 10 days away from becoming 33.
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Quality-wise, there are very few arguments to be made for an Indian overhaul. Since the start of 2022, the Men in Blue have a win/loss ratio of 2.79 (39 wins, 14 losses) over 56 matches, the best of any team in the world. But there may be a necessary churn of players by the next World Cup, due to concerns over age.
Of the six named above, Kohli may be the only one who makes it to 2027 (Jadeja perhaps at a push), provided he does not hang up his boots by then. Hardik Pandya's fitness consistently remains in doubt while Jasprit Bumrah will have to be carefully managed as he will be edging closer to 33 by the next World Cup.
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For now, it seems as though the best way forward for India is to identify a new first-choice team that can begin to play together within the next 12-18 months; building around the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Siraj.
There is talent to be found in every corner of the country, but there must be a focus on tailoring skillsets for each format, and specifically in the context of this team developing good-quality backups for players like Pandya. An overhaul may not be the accurate way to describe India's situation, but a rebuild is very much on the cards.
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