3 similarities between India's 2023 and 2011 World Cup campaigns 

The Indian team has been on a roll in the ongoing ICC men's ODI World Cup 2023, having won their first four games thus far. What has been incredible to witness is the utter dominance India have showcased with each passing game.

While they were in a bit of trouble against Australia, a match-changing partnership between Virat Kohli and KL Rahul brought the side home before Rohit Sharma's magnificent ton decimated the Afghani unit.

India then met arch-rivals Pakistan, who crumbled in the high-pressure situation. India's latest triumph came in Pune, where a collective team effort saw them vanquishing Bangladesh.

The Men in Blue's high-flying run has made Indian fans believe that the side has a great chance to go all the way this time around and end a decade-long ICC trophy drought.

Due to India's brilliant performance in the ongoing 2023 ODI World Cup, many fans have drawn parallels to the iconic 2011 World Cup Indian side, which went on to lift the silverware.

With the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, and the skipper MS Dhoni himself, the 2011 Indian unit had some all-time greats of the game. After losing just one encounter in the entire tournament, India scripted a remarkable title win, that too, on home soil.

While the current 2023 Indian side still have a long road ahead, there have been some striking similarities between India's ongoing World Cup campaign and the 2011 campaign. Let's take a look at three of those similarities.

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#1 Five different bowlers took two wickets each vs Pakistan

Jasprit Bumrah celebrating with Virat Kohli vs Pakistan [Getty Images]

It is a rare sight when a team's five different bowlers share the load and take two wickets each to bundle out the opposition.

However, it is interesting to note that the Indian team has been able to achieve the feat in two of the biggest games.

When the side faced Pakistan in the 2011 ODI World Cup semifinal in Mohali, the visitors were asked to chase down 261 runs in the second innings. However, a well-rounded bowling performance from India saw them restrict Pakistan to 231 in 49.5 overs.

During the innings, all five of Zaheer Khan (2/58), Ashish Nehra (2/33), Munaf Patel (2/40), Harbhajan Singh (2/43), and Yuvraj Singh (2/57) combined to take the 10 wickets.

A similar instance occurred in the recent India vs. Pakistan match in Ahmedabad as well when a proficient Indian bowling unit bundled out the Men in Green for just 191 runs.

While this was during the first innings, the Indian bowling attack, consisting of Jasprit Bumrah (2/19), Mohammed Siraj (2/50), Hardik Pandya (2/34), Kuldeep Yadav (2/35), and Ravindra Jadeja (2/38) took two wickets each.

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#2 Virat Kohli scored a century vs Bangladesh

Virat Kohli vs Bangladesh in 2023 and in 2011 [Getty Images]

Virat Kohli started his ODI World Cup career with a bang as he hammered 100* off 83 balls in the tournament-opener against Bangladesh in Dhaka in 2011.

However, in his next 28 innings in the quadrennial competition, Kohli managed to get to the three-digit mark only one more time.

But when Bangladesh faced India in Match 17 of the 2023 ODI World Cup in Pune, Kohli was on song once again and played a masterful knock of 103* off 97 balls. While his century this time came during a run-chase, Kohli became only the fourth ever Indian to notch up two ODI World Cup centuries against a particular opponent.

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#3 Beat Australia after a successful run-chase

India have chased down total vs Australia in 2011 and in 2023 [Getty Images]

Another similarity between the two campaigns have been the instance of India successfully hunting down a target against Australia.

During the 2011 campaign, India played Australia in the quarterfinals in Ahmedabad, where India chased down 261 runs in 47.4 overs. All three of Sachin Tendulkar (53), Gautam Gambhir (50), and Yuvraj Singh (57*) scored half-centuries during the run-chase.

In the ongoing showpiece event, India opened their campaign in a high-octane game against the Aussies. While the match was played in Chennai, Australia fared poorly and could only get to 199 in the first innings.

However, the new-ball threat of Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc gave a scare to the hosts as they reduced them to 2/3 within the two overs. With India staring down the barrel, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul joined forces to rebuild the Indian innings before taking the side home.

While Kohli made 85, Rahul narrowly missed out on a well-deserved hundred and remained unbeaten on 97 off 115 balls.

The Indian fans would be hoping that the Rohit Sharma-led side goes on to replicate India's 2011 heroics and bring home the silverware after a gap of 12 years.

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