The highly anticipated match has arrived, pitting two cricket giants against each other, India and New Zealand. This match could very well serve as a prelude to the semi-finals or even the grand finale of the 2023 World Cup, given that both teams have maintained a flawless record by winning their first four matches in the tournament.
Memories of the heartbreaking defeat in the 2019 World Cup semi-final in Manchester still haunt the minds of Indian cricket fans. The iconic scorecard, showing India at a perilous 5/3, remains etched in their memories.
Trent Boult, a key figure in New Zealand’s triumph in that unforgettable semi-final, eagerly anticipates the clash with India at the picturesque HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala.
In the recent history, New Zealand have dominated India in the World Cups. Excluding the World Test Championship and focusing solely on ICC World Cups, India’s last victory over the Kiwis dates back 20 years to the 2003 World Cup in Centurion.
In recent white-ball ICC tournaments, New Zealand has emerged victorious in their previous four encounters with India. This streak includes the 2007 T20 World Cup, the 2016 T20 World Cup, the 2019 World Cup, and the 2021 T20 World Cup. Additionally, New Zealand triumphed over India in the final of the WTC 2021.
India’s most recent ICC World Cup victory against New Zealand occurred way back in 2003. In that memorable match, fast bowler Zaheer Khan was named the Man of the Match for his exceptional figures of 4/42. With the bat, Mohammad Kaif and Rahul Dravid delivered impressive half-centuries, guiding India to a resounding 7-wicket victory while chasing a target of 147 runs. In this article, let’s take a look at where those Indian Playing XI players are now in 2023.
Openers
Chasing the target of 147 runs, it was Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar who opened the inning for India. The former scored just 1 run while the latter scored 15. Both Sehwag and Sachin have now retired from the game and are occasionally seen doing commentary while also both have occasionally played in the Legends League Cricket.
Middle-Order
It was the middle-order batters who took India over the line. Captain Sourav Ganguly did not had a good outing as he scored only 3 runs. But it was Mohammed Kaif and Rahul Dravid’s half-centuries that took India over the line. Ganguly most recently served the president of the BCCI, and now working with IPL franchise Delhi Capitals. Mohammed Kaif is doing commentary work in the World Cup 2023 while Rahul Dravid is the current Indian team head coach. Other than that, Yuvraj Singh and Dinesh Mongia have both retired and are away from cricket.
Bowlers
There were a total of 4 designated bowlers in the Indian squad. Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Harbhajan Singh. Srinath is currently an ICC match referee while Harbhajan Singh works as a commentator. Zaheer Khan is currently working with the Mumbai Indians IPL franchise while Ashish Nehra is the head coach of the IPL team Gujarat Titans and both occasionally do commentary work as well.
