Can Rohit Sharma replicate MS Dhoni's 2011 World Cup campaign? Decoding possibilities

With the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 closing in, there is a spree of excitement and at the same time, nervousness burgeoning among the Indian cricket fans. As, fewer than a hundred days are left before the start of the one-day mayhem, the daunting query "Will this be the tournament when Team India will end its ICC trophy drought?" has started to make waves. While the answer will be in front of the world as the World Cup will take shape from October 5, beforehand let's gauge the chances of India by comparing it with the team who has been there and done that. Yes! let's take a look into the memory and compare Rohit Sharma's potential team with that of MS Dhoni's squad that attained glory in 2011. 

3 things you need to know

• India lifted the ODI World Cup in 1983 and 2011
• India hosted the 2011 World Cup and became the first host to win the trophy
• India will host the ICC 2023 World Cup 2023 

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MS Dhoni's team vs Rohit Sharma's team

MS Dhoni's team that entered the 2011 World Cup, was a star-studded line-up, that included a destroyer in the form of Virender Sehwag, a consistent top-order batsman Gautam Gambhir, a young Virat Kohli, the primary match-winner Yuvraj Singh, and top of that it had Sachin Tendulkar, who was in the twilight of his career yet had a fresh spectrum to showcase. Dhoni himself came in as the greatest finisher of the game and in the final of that tournament against Sri Lankawe all witnessed it, didn't we? 

Now as we look back at it seems as if it was meant to happen. However, there were some frailties in that squad back then which faded after India won the entire thing. Thus, as Rohit Sharma's team is gearing up for the ICC World Cup 2023, there are again some issues with the team which are not going unnoticed but if we draw parallels with the World Cup winners there is some optimistic ground that suggests India could repeat the history.

Will Virat Kohli play the role of Sachin Tendulkar

Though, Sachin Tendulkar is irreplaceable but Virat Kohli has over the years come in the light of similar greatness, at least when it comes to the 50-over format. Kohli will be expected to become India's X-factor and score more than 500 runs. Rohit Sharma might have to channel his destructive best and indeed he picks up the form that he exhibited in the 2019 World Cup then runs would mount up. Shubman Gill is seen as the other opener alongside Sharma and he is beginning to turn into a run-machine as well. Thus, the top three spots are covered up just like it was in the 2011 World Cup. The number 4 spot which gave India a major headache in the 2019 World Cup might not be a concern this time as the emergence of Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer has brought competition for the place. KL Rahul would most probably take the onus of Wicket-Keeping. But who is going to play Yuvraj Singh's role? The player was spectacular with both bat and ball and ended up winning the Player of the Tournament award. Hardik Pandya is one player, who comes into mind who could take play the Yuvraj-like role but is the comparison unfair? We leave this for you to answer. 

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Jasprit Bumrah to spearhead the bowling department?

The bowling department is also set to be covered by the likes of Mohammad Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal, and team management and fans are also optimistic about the return of Jasprit Bumrah. In 2011, Zaheer Khan was the spearhead, will it be   Hence, there is enough arsenal when it comes to winning the world cup, but, as it was MS Dhoni who was the brains of the outfit last time, this time it is Rohit Sharma. Both are similar in one aspect they both have won 5 IPL trophies each, but in the international space, Dhoni is arguably the most successful in the world. Can Rohit Sharma draw level with Dhoni in the ODI World Cup scene and bring back the glory for which more than a billion fans are waiting? What do you think?