A year that began with much promise ended in familiar white-ball disappointment with India failing to make it to the final of two multi-team T20 competitions in 2022. The Asia Cup in the UAE in August-September was supposed to be the appetiser to the main course, the World Cup in Australia in October-November. Having done all the running in bilateral series in the lead-up to the two tournaments, Rohit Sharma’s men came a cropper when it mattered most, failing to advance beyond the Super 4s in the continental bash and being pummeled out of sight by eventual winners England in the semi-final of the global tournament.

All will be forgiven, and forgotten, if India invoke the spirit of 2011 and reprise their heroics of 12 years back at the 50-over World Cup, in their own backyard in October-November 2023. By the time that event comes around, it would have been 10 and a half years since India’s last global success—at the Champions Trophy in England in 2013. It’s too long a drought for a team that boasts such strength in depth, that lords country v country showdowns, but that has somehow found multi-team faceoffs a bridge too far.