A stat analysis comparing Rohit Sharma-led Team India to Ricky Ponting's all-conquering Australian team from 2007 and Clive Lloyd's West Indies.
Team India have entered the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday, November 19, to chase history. This team has the chance to close out one of the most diminant campaigns in World Cup history. They have won 10 games on the trot. Only twice has a team won 11 games in a row at a single World Cup. Both times it was done by a Ricky Ponting-led Australia. Only two other times has a team won the title undefeated, and that was done by Clive Lloyd’s West Indies. These are the two greatest cricket teams ever. And Team India may have just put up a more dominant performance than them. If this team goes on to win the title on Sunday, this will go down in history as the most dominant team in World Cup history. And no, it’s not me, but numbers that say that!
How West Indies and Australia perfected the ODI template
The World Cup began in 1975 as the Prudential Cup. Australia were considered heavy favourites based on recent form but Clive Lloyd-led West Indies upstaged everyone. Backed by young talents like Viv Richards and Gordon Greenidge and a battery of fast bowlers, West Indies won the cup undefeated in their five games. In 1979, they repeated the feat, winning four games on the trot (one was washed out). The only reason their feat does not rank as high as India or Australia is the fewer number of games they played. Also, West Indies did have a couple of close games over the two tournaments. In 75, they beat Pakistan by only 1 wicket, for instance.
In contrast, Australia – during their phase of dominance in the 2000s – perfected the ODI template. 2003 was the dry run. They won undefeated but were pushed close on a few occasions. England pushed them close, taking 8 wickets in a grpup stage game. New Zealand famously reduced them to 84/7 in the Super Sixes but Australia still won those games. But it was all about to change.
Australia’s ruthless, near-perfect campaign in 2007
In 2007, Australia were at the zenith of ODI dominance, with all players firing. They began the tournament scoring freely, reaching 300 in each of their first four games, all batting first, winning two of them by over 200 runs. When they chased, they won each game by 7 wickets or more, finishing two chaes in under 15 overs. Their batters were piling on runs and their bowlers miserly. It was the perfect ODI team. All their top five batters crossed 300 runs, and their three main bowlers took over 16 wickets each. In terms of consistency, Australia were miles ahead of every other team in the tournament.
Team performances in the 2007 World Cup
|
Team
|
Runs
|
Ave
|
SR
|
Wkts
|
Ave
|
Econ
|
|
Australia
|
2705
|
62.90
|
102.34
|
97
|
19.56
|
4.54
|
|
Sri Lanka
|
2457
|
35.10
|
82.25
|
84
|
23.64
|
4.43
|
|
South Africa
|
2143
|
35.71
|
88.26
|
66
|
31.07
|
4.53
|
|
New Zealand
|
2109
|
35.15
|
81.83
|
72
|
29.48
|
4.47
|
|
West Indies
|
1929
|
27.95
|
76.15
|
53
|
39.64
|
4.90
|
|
England
|
1872
|
28.36
|
72.64
|
53
|
35.22
|
4.83
|
Team India of 2023 are dominant but Australia were other-worldly
No doubt India’s performance in 2023 has been phenomenal, but Australia were on another planet in 2007. In 2023, Team India’s batting average has been 17 points higher than the next best and strike rate one point more. In contrast, in 2007, Australia’s average was 27 points ahead of the next best. Their strike rate was 102 when the next best was 88. They were the only team to average under 20 with the ball in the tournament as well. Perhaps economy is the only area where India 2023 have outdone Australia 2007. In a high-scoring tournament, where every team’s bowling economy has been above 5.4, Indian bowlers have kept it to 4.72. In contrast, Australia did not have the best economy rate in 2007. In fact, they were not even in the top 3. Their bowlers took wickets but gave away runs too.
Team performances in the 2023 World Cup (before the final)
|
Team
|
Runs
|
Ave
|
SR
|
Wkts
|
Ave
|
Econ
|
|
India
|
2810
|
58.54
|
104.65
|
95
|
20.90
|
4.72
|
|
South Africa
|
2773
|
38.51
|
99.39
|
88
|
26.40
|
5.44
|
|
Australia
|
2722
|
34.89
|
97.66
|
77
|
32.62
|
5.59
|
|
New Zealand
|
2712
|
41.09
|
103.23
|
71
|
37.52
|
5.91
|
|
Pakistan
|
2220
|
34.15
|
96.14
|
65
|
39.47
|
6.21
|
|
Afghanistan
|
1990
|
32.62
|
93.80
|
53
|
40.45
|
6.10
|
How India 2023 stacks up against Australia 2007
Rohit Sharma’s India has been playing sublime cricket but they are still in the shadow of Australia 2007. That team, led by Ponting, put up displays of batting that other teams could not touch, while their bowlers were among the best in the tournament as well. Whether India can be talked about in the same breath as that champion team now depends only on one factor – whether they can win the final. After all, people remember Neil Armstrong more than Buzz Aldrin. You gotta finish first to create history!
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