World Cup 2023: How India's top five batters have played a key role in their dominant march to final

Contributions from the batting top five have been crucial in this ICC World Cup and India’s dominant performance so far in the tournament is a testament to that fact. A lack of runs from this department has also been the undoing of a number of teams including South Africa, who were the last team eliminated before Sunday’s grand final between India and Australia. World Cup 2023: News | Schedule | Results | Points table India have been the team to beat in this tournament, finishing at the top of the table with nine wins in as many outings with an outstanding Net Run Rate (NRR) of +2.570. Not only would they become the first team to qualify for the semi-finals, but they would also be the first to enter the final by beating New Zealand by 70 runs in their semi-final clash in Mumbai.

There are a number of factors behind their superb run in what has been one of the dominant runs in the history of the showpiece quadrennial tournament. Never before has the Indian team been this clinical both with bat and ball. Their pace trio of Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj has been sensational, especially with the new ball, and have perfectly complemented the exploits of left-arm spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja. It is also one of those rare occasions where pretty much every member of the batting top five has been in roaring form in the ongoing tournament, which has resulted in the two-time champions not having to depend on contributions from an individual or two for a healthy change. For one, Virat Kohli finds himself at the top of the run-scorers’ list with 711 runs at an average of 101.57, collecting three centuries and five half-centuries in 10 outings — the kind of form he was in back in early 2012 and in the summer of 2016. Read: How Paddy Upton helped Kohli turn a corner He surpassed batting great and his childhood mentor Sachin Tendulkar along the way on a couple of fronts — becoming the first batter to reach the milestone of 50 ODI centuries and as well as the most runs scored in a single edition of the World Cup. [caption id=“attachment_13391012” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Virat Kohli celebrates after scoring his 50th ODI century. AP[/caption] Then there’s skipper Rohit Sharma with 550 runs at an average of 55. Though he finds himself four places below Kohli in the batting charts for this tournament, his role in the powerplay might very well have been the most crucial. The opening powerplay, after all, has been a make-or-break phase in a number of matches and Rohit’s ability to tee off from the word go has helped India absorb pressure early on and make the task all the easier for the rest of the batting order. Case in point was the match against South Africa in Kolkata that was played on a tricky Eden pitch, where India still ended up collecting 91 runs in the powerplay — eight more than what the Proteas managed. There’s a third member of the team in the batting top 10 in Shreyas Iyer, who had started the tournament on a slightly indifferent note but has surged ahead in style with four consecutive fifty-plus scores including a century in each of his last two outings. There had been some murmurs of the possibility of playing Suryakumar Yadav at two-down ahead of Iyer but the Kolkata Knight Riders captain has ended that debate with 526 runs at 75.14. World Cup Closing Ceremony:  All the details And let’s not forget KL Rahul’s underrated contributions to the team cause. Not only has he been brilliant behind the stumps — both with his glove work as well as decision-making when it comes to taking reviews — he has also been extremely handy at the No. 5 spot for a variety of roles. Whether it is to absorb pressure and steer the team out of trouble as had been the case when India were reduced to 2/3 in their chase of 200 against Australia in their tournament opener, or blasting a 62-ball century against the Netherlands — the quickest by an Indian in World Cup history. Rahul might not have as many runs as his teammates, sitting well outside the top 10 with 386 at 77.20, but his contributions have mattered as many as anyone else’s. [caption id=“attachment_13380512” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] KL Rahul celebrates after bringing up his century in just 62 deliveries during India’s ICC World Cup match against Netherlands in Bengaluru. AP[/caption] Last, but certainly not least, let’s not forget how Shubman Gill’s improved by leaps and bounds in his maiden World Cup outing. Certainly among the standout World Cup debutants alongside South Africa’s Gerald Coetzee, Gill had been sidelined for the first couple of games due to a bout of dengue, with Ishan Kishan opening alongside Rohit against Australia and Afghanistan. He would then register scores of 16, 26 and 9 in three of his first four outings before catching up with the rest of the star-studded batting lineup with three fifty-plus scores in his next four games. Gill hasn’t been as explosive as Rohit in the powerplay or Iyer and Rahul in the death overs but has been valuable when it comes to building solid partnerships in the middle overs with an approach similar to that of Kohli. Let’s not forget the perfect foil that he plays to Rohit’s slam-bang approach in the first 10 overs. World Cup Final:  A look at Australia’s strengths Top-order batters usually dominate the run-charts and it’s been the case in this edition as well. Five out of the top 10 batters are those who either open in a full-time capacity or have done so for a majority of the tournament. And not one of them bats beyond the No 4 spot, save for Mitchell Marsh, who had to shift down the order after Travis Head’s return to the top of the Aussie batting lineup. More than individual contributions, it’s also how the top five clicks goes a long way in deciding the outcome of a match, especially a knockout. It was quite evident in both semi-finals; India had gone as far as 200 losing just two wickets, which would give Iyer and Rahul the license to launch a full-blooded attack and take their score to 397. New Zealand, meanwhile would lose two wickets for 39 and despite the heroic fightback from Daryl Mitchell and Kane Williamson with their 181-run third-wicket stand, were always playing catch-up and would eventually fall short by 70 runs. It was even more evident in the second semi-final, where South Africa had been reduced to 24/4 after opting to bat before a magnificent 101 from David Miller rescued them to a respectable total of 212. Australia, in stark contrast, would race to 60 for no loss in just six overs and the battle was half won by then. Despite a wobble in the middle overs thanks to a spirited fightback from the Proteas spin department, Australia needed but a calm mind for them to qualify for the final. India have everything that it takes to lift the coveted trophy for the third time in four attempts on Sunday. However, with reports trickling in on the possibility of a slow surface being used for Sunday’s summit clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium, the manner with which Rohit, Kohli and the rest of the top five operate might just make the difference.