The 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup started on October 5 and concluded on November 19, 2023, with Australia winning the tournament. It was the 13th edition of the quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men’s national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). Ten national teams vied for honours in the dazzling tournament, hosted solely for the first time by India.
The tournament took place in ten different stadiums, in ten cities across India. In the first semi-final India beat New Zealand, and in the second semi-final Australia beat South Africa. The final took place between India and Australia at Narendra Modi Stadium on November 19, with Australia led by Pat Cummins winning the world title for the sixth time. Player of the Match was Travis Head of Australia.
The top eight placed teams in the tournament’s final points table qualified for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy, the next ICC ODI tournament. Virat Kohli was the Player of the Tournament and also scored the most runs. Mohammed Shami was the leading wicket-taker. A total of 1,250,307 spectators attended matches, the highest number in any cricket World Cup to date.
It was the second time that India and Australia played a World Cup final against each other, the previous one being in 2003.This was the first ICC World Cup in which penalties for slow over-rates were given to bowling sides if they did not complete their 50 overs in the stipulated time. On-field umpires could penalise the bowling team by not allowing more than four fielders outside the 30-yard circle.
Qualification Process
The 2023Cricket World Cup qualification included the introduction of a new qualification process. A series of cricket competitions determined which countries took part in the 2023 Cricket World Cup. In total, 32 countries took part in the qualification process.
The 32 teams were divided into three leagues – Super League (13 teams) held during the period July 30, 2020 to May 14, 2023, League 2 (7 teams) and Challenge League (12 teams). Based on the results of the leagues, teams either directly qualified for the World Cup or were eliminated from World Cup qualification, or advanced to other supplementary qualifying tournaments through which they could qualify for the World Cup.
As with the previous edition, the 2023 World Cup featured ten teams. The main route for qualification was the 2020-23 Super League tournament. From the 13 competitors in this tournament, the top 7 sides- Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa along with the host nation of India qualified for the World Cup. The remaining five teams, along with five Associate sides, proceeded to the 2023 qualifier, held between June 18 and July 9, 2023 from which two teams Sri Lanka and the Netherlands went through.
The supplementary qualifying tournaments also determined the promotion and relegation between the leagues. As it was the first use of the new process, teams were allocated to the three leagues based on their ICC member status, ODI status and rank from the 2017-2019 ICC World Cricket League.
As a result of the qualifying process, the competition was the first not to include former winners West Indies, who failed to progress for the first time after their defeat to Scotland. Full members Ireland and Zimbabwe also missed out on qualification, meaning three of the four full members who took part in the knock-out qualification stage did not qualify, with only Sri Lanka progressing.
Background and Squads
In July 2020, it was announced that that the tournament would be moved to October and November as a result of the qualification schedule being disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ICC released the tournament schedule on June 27, 2023. Originally, the competition was to be staged from February 9, to March 26, 2023.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had threatened to boycott the competition after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) refused to send a team to the 2023 Asia Cup scheduled in Pakistan. This issue was resolved in June 2023 after the Asian Cricket Council announced that the competition would be hosted using a hybrid model proposed by the PCB, with nine of the 13 matches in the competition played in Sri Lanka.
All teams were asked to finalise their 15-player squads prior to September 28, 2023 with any replacements after this deadline requiring approval from the ICC. All squads were announced by September 26, 2023. The oldest player of the tournament was Dutch player Wesley Barresi, who was 39 years old, while the youngest was Afghan spinner Noor Ahmad, who was just 18.
The semi-finals were played in Mumbai and Kolkata while the final was held in Ahmedabad as India secured a place in the final for the fourth time, after defeating New Zealand in the semi-final; having won two (1983 against the West Indies and 2011 against Sri Lanka) and lost one (2003 to current finalist Australia).
Australia qualified for a record-extending eighth time in the final, after defeating South Africa in the semi-finals; having won five (1987 against England, 1999 against Pakistan, 2003 against current finalist India, 2007 against Sri Lanka, and 2015 against New Zealand) and lost two (1975 to the West Indies and 1996 to Sri Lanka).
Venues and Match Officials
The tournament took place in ten different stadiums, situated in ten different cities across India. The first and second semi-finals were held at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai and Eden Gardens in Kolkata respectively, while the final took place at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
The BCCI provided funding for renovations and refurbishments at stadiums. Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium received a new grass surface, drainage system, seating, and hospitality boxes. Wankhede Stadium had upgrades to the outfield, floodlights, corporate boxes, and toilets. M. A. Chidambaram Stadium installed new floodlights and relaid two wickets.
With the autumn scheduling of this World Cup, the ICC instituted protocols for reducing the impact of moisture – including dew and rain – on pitch conditions, so that they did not give the team batting second an advantage (as had frequently occurred in the 2021 Men’s T20 World Cup). These included using a specific wetting agent, and the boundary set at around 70 metres (77 yards) at each stadium, with more grass on the pitch to encourage seam bowling over spin bowling.
Group Stage
The ICC announced the World Cup schedule on June 27, 2023 in Mumbai with a countdown of 100 days to the opening match of the World Cup on October 5. The group stage started with the match between the finalists of the 2019 Cricket World Cup, New Zealand and England, at Narendra Modi Stadium. On August 9, 2023, nine fixtures, including the match between India and Pakistan, were rescheduled by the ICC. The top seven teams in the tournament, excluding Pakistan who qualify automatically as host, qualified for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy.
India emerged first with 18 points; South Africa came second with 14 points; Australia secured third position with 14 points; New Zealand came fourth; Pakistan, Afghanistan, England and Bangladesh secured fifth to eighth positions; Sri Lanka were ninth and the Netherlands were the tenth. The top eight countries qualified for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy.
Knockout Stage
The host India was the first team to qualify for the Semi-Finals after their 302-run win against Sri Lanka, their seventh successive win in the World Cup. India secured the top place amongst the Semi-Finalists after they beat South Africa by 243 runs on November 5, at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
South Africa became the second team to qualify for the Semi-Finals after Pakistan defeated New Zealand on November4, with Australia becoming the third team to qualify after defeating Afghanistan on November 7. New Zealand confirmed their berth as the fourth team after Pakistan lost their final match against England.
World Cup Final
Both finalists, Australia and India remained unchanged from their Semi-Final matches. Australia won the toss and decided to field first. India made a quick start to their innings, with captain Rohit Sharma hitting 47 from 31, but then lost Shubman Gill, Rohit and Shreyas Iyer in quick succession to leave India 81/3. Virat Kohli and KL Rahul added 67 for the fourth wicket, before Kohli was out for 54.
India continued slowly, and Rahul was dismissed for 66 to leave India 203/6, and the remaining batsmen were not able to score quickly, the innings ending with Kuldeep Yadav dismissed from the last ball of the 50th over with the total 240. Australia made a poor start to their innings, losing three batsmen for 47 runs inside the first seven overs.
However, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne then built a partnership, adding 192 runs in 36 overs. Australia were within two runs of victory when Head was dismissed by Mohammed Siraj for 137. Glenn Maxwell was the next batsman in, and hit the winning two runs off the next ball, to give Australia a 6-wicket comfortable victory. Jasprit Bumrah took for 2/43 in 9 overs.
Virat Kohli scored 765 runs from 11 innings with 3 centuries and six 50s maintaining an average 95.62 to become the highest scorer in the tournament. Indian Captain Rohit Sharma chipped in with 597 runs with a century and three 50s. Quinton de Kock of South Africa scored 594 runs with 4 centuries. Rachin Ravindraand Daryl Mitchell of New Zealand scored 578 and 552 runs respectively.
In bowling, Mohammed Shamiof India took 24 wickets in just seven matches at an average of 10.70. Adam Zampaof Australia took 23 wickets. Dilshan Madushanka of Sri Lanka took 21 wickets. Jasprit Bumrah of India and Gerald Coetzee of South Africa took 20 wickets each.
Marketing
The ICC announced the winner’s trophy would tour the world 100 days before the commencement of the event. Photographs of the trophy were taken at each location. The trophy tour began with it being launched into space. The mascots for the World Cup were a male and female duo named “Tonk” and “Blaze” from the fictional cricketing utopia “Crictoverse.”
The official theme song of the 2023 Cricket World Cup titled “Dil Jashn Bole” (translation, “Heart say celebrate”) was released on September 20. The song was composed by Pritam, with lyrics by Shloke Lal and Saaveri Verma. The song was sung by Pritam, Nakash Aziz, Sreerama Chandra, Amit Mishra, Jonita Gandhi, Akasa Singh and SP Charan.
The opening ceremony which was scheduled for October 4, 2023 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad was ceremony cancelled and replaced by a closing ceremony ahead of the final. During this a drone show was held.
Prize Money
The ICC allocated a pool of US$10 million in prize money for the tournament, with pay-outs remaining the same as the 2019 and 2015 tournaments. Australia, the winning team, received US$4,000,000, the runner-up $2,000,000 and the losing semi-finalists $1,600,000. Teams that did not progress past the league stage received $100,000 and the winner of each league stage match received $40,000.
The 2023 Cricket World Cup Final was a ODI cricket match played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India, on November 19,2023 to determine the winner of the 2023 Cricket World Cup. It was played between host nation India and Australia. It was the first time that Ahmedabad hosted a Cricket World Cup final. It was the second time that India and Australia played a World Cup final against each other, after the 2003 final.
Broadcasting and Viewership
The final was broadcast live in India on Star Sports, free-to-air broadcaster DD Sports and free on OTT platform Disney+Hotstar. In Australia the match was broadcast live on Fox Sports, Kayo Sports and on OTT platform 9Now.
The ICC also named as elite commentators for the final Harsha Bhogle, Ian Bishop, Aaron Finch, Sunil Gavaskar, Matthew Hayden, Mark Howard, Nasser Hussain, Dinesh Karthik, Sanjay Manjrekar, Eoin Morgan, Kass Naidoo, Ricky Ponting, Ravi Shastri, Ian Smith and Shane Watson.
According to Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) data, the final was watched by 300 million people on TV, with a peak concurrence of 130 million, making it the most-watched cricket match on TV. While Disney+Hotstar recorded a viewership of 59 million concurrent viewers, the most for any live sporting event on OTT platform.
Closing Ceremony and Aftermath
During the closing ceremony, a drone show was held along with huge fireworks. After this, Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BCCI Secretary Jay Shah presented the World Cup trophy to Australia’s captain Pat Cummins.
In the aftermath of the match, many supporters of the Indian team took to social media to troll and harass Australian players and their families. Some fans even sent death and rape threats directed at players and their families, resulting in many Australian players filing complaints with Cricket Australia.
Harbhajan Singh, a former player on the Indian team, condemned the trolls, saying: “Reports of trolling of family members of Australian cricket players is completely in bad taste. We played well but lost the final to better cricket by the Aussies. That’s it. Why troll the players and their families? Requesting all cricket fans to stop such behaviour. Sanity and dignity are more important.”
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