The World Cup 2023 is less than two months away. The 10-team tournament, which will be the 13th edition of the ODI World Cup, will take place in India from October 5 to November 19, commencing and concluding at the massive Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad.
The Indian fans have been dreaming of this moment for a long time – that Team India lifts the World Cup trophy for the third time in history; only Australia have won the ODI World Cup title more than twice – they have 5 in their cabinet.
India fans desperately wish for the World Cup win this year. They have already suffered the WTC Final loss. The pain of a decade-long suffering, losses in the knockouts, especially in the 2019 WC semi-final, would ease greatly if India do lift the trophy this year.
Before that, though, India play in the Asia Cup 2023, which starts on August 30, and it will be followed by a 3-ODI series at home against Australia just before the World Cup begins. With a couple of months left to go for the world even to start, the Indian cricket teams fans are wishing for a couple of more things to happen before the ultimate tournament takes centerstage.
Two things Indian cricket fans are dreaming for ahead of World Cup 2023:
Rishabh Pant’s comeback
Oh! What would the Indian fans, and the Indian team, be willing to give to see Rishabh Pant make a miraculous comeback ahead of the World Cup?
Rishabh Pant suffered many injuries in a car accident in December last year. But, by god’s grace, two people helped him out of the car which soon took fire. He underwent knee surgery, and was making “significant” progress after that.
On August 15, Rishabh Pant played in his first practice match since the accident. It was a match in a low-key sporting facility ground in Bangalore, a game organized by Delhi Capitals co-owner Parth Jindal’s company, JSW, for the Independence Day celebration. Dozens of fans came to see Pant in action and cheered loudly, and on social media fans went berserk as Pant took the field and played in his trademark fashion.
@RishabhPant17 back in the ground 😍😍 #rishabhpant pic.twitter.com/M0r1tq9tzl
— Md Israque Ahamed (@IsraqueAhamed) August 16, 2023
India have missed Pant’s services as a wicket-keeper and an explosive batsman this year. It seems highly unlikely that Pant will be declared fit for the World Cup, but it would be something great, and something big, if he does manages to make it in the world event this year at home.
Fans yearn to see a big partnership between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma
It has been a long time since the ‘Robot’ and the ‘Artist’, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, were involved in a big, memorable partnership in ODI cricket.
Kohli and Rohit are the two biggest superstars in this Indian team. They are also the two most experienced players in the side and will be having huge expectations from the 1.4 billion fans in the World Cup.
In ODI cricket, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have together added 4998 runs – the third-most ever for an Indian pair – in only 85 innings at an average of 62 – the highest average for an Indian men’s pair in ODIs with minimum of 2000 runs – with 18 century stands.
Virat Kohli’s last century partnership with Rohit Sharma came in January 2020! That’s three years of the fans being bereft of a big Kohli-Rohit partnership, something that we used to see much more often in the pre-pandemic days, but a high dose of cricket and need of rest for these two all-format players have meant they haven’t played much ODI cricket together.
But fans would love for them to deliver together in the Asia Cup, icing on the cake if it’s against Pakistan!