India will celebrate its 78th Independence Day on August 15. With each passing year, the whole nation strives for greater success. In a country that has hundreds of languages, 29 states, and is the most populous nation in the world, one thing unites us: cricket. Whether it be a kid in Kashmir, a shopkeeper in Assam, a businessman in Gujarat, or a fisherman in Tamil Nadu, the love of cricket in India is everywhere.
As India starts its 79th chapter, fans would hope that the Indian cricket team also achieves the same success as the nation. If there is an ideal wishlist for what a fan would like Indian cricket to achieve by August 14 next year, it would look something like this:
Win the WTC & Champions Trophy
The 2024 T20 World Cup is already in the bag, and now India hunts for the ICC events, the World Test Champion (WTC) Mace, and the Champions Trophy. Having made the finals of the last two editions (2021 and 2023) but failing to cross the line, the Indian cricket team would be raring to get that redemption. The WTC Mace is the only ICC trophy that India hasn’t won yet, and they would love to complete the set in June next year. As for the Champion Trophy, India has won it twice and would overtake Australia to become the team with the most titles.
Third BGT series victory in Australia
Before the WTC, there’ll be the Border Gavaskar Trophy in November-December. India has beaten Australia the last two times they have toured, and they would love to make it 3-0 down under. Both times, the score line was 2-1 in favour of India, but this time around, instead of a 4-match series, the teams will play 5 games. Despite dominating Australia since that 2014-15 tour, India won’t be the favourite with the Aussies having the home advantage, but no one would be shocked if India returned victorious.
Transparency in team selection
Many management and head coaches have come and gone, but the transparency when it comes to team selection isn’t there. Not only to fans but also to the players. Everyone needs to be informed why one player wasn’t selected or why the other was. This means that players need to be told what the management wants and where they can improve. Similarly, it would allow fans to get a clear idea of the planning and reports regarding an X player getting dropped for some reason rather than cricket wouldn’t hog the limelight.
No format mixing
When one player performs splendidly in one format, people want them to play for India in other formats as well. This has been seen with Rishabh Pant, who, despite not showing any results in T20Is, gets backed. Shivam Dube was the most recent example, as he played his first ODI in 5 years after being part of India’s successful T20 World Cup campaign. Suryakumar Yadav was tried in Tests for no apparent reason other than the management liking his T20I results. One would want this to stop.
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Fast bowling all-rounder in Tests
Everyone saw what having Hardik Pandya in the team does for India. If not for him, India wouldn’t have won the final against South Africa on June 29 in Barbados. His presence in white-ball cricket elevates Team India, but similarly, his absence in Test cricket downgrades the team. Having a pace-bowling all-rounder takes you to another level. Pandya in his brief Test career, but injury has forced him out of the format since 2018. We haven’t had a good fast-bowling all-rounder since Kapil Dev, and India would kill to have one soon.
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