On what looks to be a “Super Sunday,” the Indian captain, prepared to carve out his own legacy, will have the backing of ten vicious pros and a billion cricket maniacs when his team faces off against five-time champions Australia in a winner-take-all World Cup final. When India won their first-ever Twenty20 World Cup in 2007, Rohit Sharma was right in the thick of things at the “Bull Ring” in Johannesburg, and both Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin were familiar with the feeling of victory.
However, Sunday’s championship game will be entirely different. It won’t just be a cricket competition to win; it will also take into consideration the feelings of everyone involved.
Although Rohit and his friends have frequently stated that they don’t mind the outside noise, it is precisely this noise that has elevated the game and this team to a meaningful level. Everybody involved in the game wants it to succeed and endure, including the supporters who look up to these players as “Demi Gods,” the broadcasters who shell out a lot of money to telecast Indian cricket, and the sponsors who provide funding.
In 1983, when Kapil Dev’s toothy grin at the Lord’s balcony won over fans’ hearts, it was all just the beginning, and nobody could predict where the path ahead would take us. It was more of a final reminder that India is now the dominant team in cricket and that everyone should bow down to them when Dhoni struck the game-winning six in the 2011 World Cup final. In 2023, the Indian cricket team will aim to preserve the “50-over format,” which has been struggling with identity issues for the past five years, in addition to winning a third ODI global championship. The format will receive the much-needed boost from an Indian victory.