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History will be made in Ahmedabad this Sunday when Rohit Sharma and his Indian team take the field against former champions West Indies. This will be the 1000th ODI that the Men in Blue will play since making their debut in the "pyjama format" back in 1974.
The two-time world champions will become the first side to breach Mount 1000 in ODIs, which given their general attitude towards the format during its nascent stage, feels quite surreal.
Indians by nature are pretty laid back and averse to change. They like things that they have grown comfortable with and a new wave is often met with harsh resistance. In cricketing context, the BCCI's attitude towards T20s is a perfect example.
The BCCI weren't in favour of the World T20 and it took other member nations to outvote them for the tournament to go ahead. India went on to win the competition under a young skipper in MS Dhoni and, well, the rest, as they say, is history.
Cut to the early 1970s, and the Indian cricket ecosystem had the same attitude towards ODI cricket. The format, much like T20s in modern times, was seen as a threat to traditional format. ODIs weren't treated as a serious format and it showed in the way the players approached it during the 70s.
Sunil Gavaskar's infamous 36 not out where he batted out 60 overs during a 300+ run-chase against England during the inaugural World Cup remains the defining image of Indian ODI cricket from the 70s.
India's first win in the format came against East Africa during the 1975 WC; it was the only victory that they managed across the first two editions of the tournament.
In many ways, Kapil Dev was the country's first superstar in the limited-overs format; a player whose skills were in complete sync (or perhaps way ahead of time) with the demands of the format.
A batsman who could use the long handle to devastating effect in addition to being an elite seamer and a gun fielder, Dev ticked all boxes required to become an ODI cult, which he became during the course of the 1980s.
India's fortunes in the format started to change when Dev was appointed skipper in 1980. From relying on spin quartet and defensive batsmen to bolstering the side with medium pace all-rounders like Madan Ali, Roger Binny, Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Jimmy Amarnath and swashbucklers like Yashpal Sharma, Mohinder Amarnath and of course, Kris Srikkanth, the nucleus of a competitive ODI side had started to come together.
But perhaps, it was their win against a full-strength West Indies in Berbice, just 72 days before the 1983 World Cup, that laid the cornerstone for a triumph that not only changed Indian cricket but also mainstreamed the ODI format like we had never imagined.
In this game, Gavaskar anchored the innings with a 90 while Dev smashed a whirlwind 38-ball 72 as India racked up 5/282 in 47 overs, eventually winning the game by 27 runs.
1983 World Cup: When the first nail in the evolution of Indian ODI cricket was hammered
India beat the West Indies once again during their first meeting of the '83 World Cup but following defeats to the world champions in the second encounter and a heavy defeat to Australia threatened to land the campaign in jeopardy.
And when they got reduced to 4/9 in a must-win game against Zimbabwe, their fate looked sealed. Until it wasn't.
Captain Dev chose the perfect time to smash India's first hundred in the format as he produced an innings for the ages; a whirlwind 175 which helped his side qualify for the semis.
India saw off England in the semi-finals courtesy of brilliant knocks from the likes of Yashpal Shara to set-up the summit clash with the West Indies.
25 June 1983. A date that will always reverberate in the annals of the cricket ecosystem; it's a date where the first nail in the shift in balance of power was hammered. West Indies, the two-time champions and the most dominant side that has ever played the game (alongside Australia of 2000s) were handed a shock for the ages by Kapil's Devils as they successfully defended 183 to become world champions.
The World Cup triumph made the country fall in love with the format and thus kickstarted a tsunami of multi-nation (involving India and Pakistan) and bilateral tournaments that made ODIs an integral part of the Indian fans life.
Two years later, Australia staged the World Championship of cricket in colored clothing and under lights and India- under Gavaskar- proved that their WC win wasn't a fluke as they swept the tournament to clinch another title.
Watching all this was a young teenager in Mumbai in the form of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. Seeing Kapil Dev lift the Cup in 1983 inspired a generation of Indians, none more than the prodigy himself.
The triumph gave wings to the aspirations of a boy, who now had only one thing in mind: win the World Cup for his country one day.
The 1987 edition of the WC was the first time that that tournament took place outside of England I.e India and Pakistan and Sachin had his first experience of an international game as he performed duties of a ball boy during the semi-final against England in Mumbai.
Navjot Sidhu and Chetan Sharma,who became the first Indian to claim a hat-trick (against NZ), were the heroes for the home side in that tournament but the world champions failed to defend their crown as Mike Gatting swept them out of their own party.
Enter Sachin Tendulkar - The poster boy of Indian cricket in the 90s
The year 1987 proved to be the end of an era as India's first legit great batsman Sunil Gavaskar called it quits from both forms of the game.
But the country didn't have to wait long for another batting maestro to emerge. Sachin made his debut as a 16-year-old prodigy against Pakistan in November 1989. A combination of Gavaskar's technique and Viv Richards' aggression, Tendulkar was an ideal prototype for a limited-overs batsman.
However, it took him five years to establish himself in the format. Tendulkar batted in the middle-order in ODIs till March 1994 when an injury to Sidhu on the morning of a match against New Zealand proved to be a watershed moment in his career.
He requested coach Ajit Wadekar and skipper Azhar to allow him to open the innings. And he didn't disappoint. The pocket-sized dynamo smashed a brutal 49-ball 82, and for the next 17 years went on to obliterate bowling attacks around the world.
Sachin smashed his maiden ODI ton in his 78th game against Australia(1994) and it led to opening of the floodgates as he went on to add 48 more to his tally.
The 90s was all about multi-nation tournaments taking place involving India and Sachin not only proved to be a spearhead but a messiah with the ball as well.
Who can forget the 1993 Hero Cup semi where he defended 4 runs against the Proteas? Sachin became the first poster boy of liberalised India, with the young generation identifying with his aggressive intent with the bat.
Sachin went on to play 463 out of the 999 ODIs played by India thus far. He was the leading scorer for the country in 90s as well as 2000s besides being the first batsman to smash a 200 in 50-over cricket. He is also the leading scorer in WC cricket, top-scoring in 2003 besides being the 2nd highest run-getter in 2011.
As far as the team from the 90s is concerned, no discussion can ever be completed without the mention of the duo of Ajay Jadeja and Robin Singh, who in many ways, were the first instigators behind the fielding revolution in this country.
Apart from being gun fielders, the duo were potent middle-order batters who played a massive role in finishing off so many matches for their team. Who can forget Jadeja's onslaught against Waqar Younis in the '96 WC quarters which ultimately proved to be the difference between the two sides?
Speaking of 1996 WC, it's a tournament where the format peaked to the hilt in the sub-continent. Vibrant colours, day night games, aggressive batting at the top by the likes of Sanath Jayasuriya, Sachin and the likes, paved the way for a revolution that saw ODIs become an integral part of people's life.
Tendulkar, as usual, led the way with the bat but it didn't prove to be enough as rest of the batsmen struggled against a boisterous Lankan attack in the semis to bow out amid depressing scenes.
By the time 1998 arrived, India got another superstar batsman in the form of Sourav Ganguly. Sachin and Ganguly became a pair at the top of the order and went on to dominate bowling attacks for the next decade.
In the same year, Sachin went on to immortalise himself courtesy of twin hundreds against Australia in Sharjah where he absolutely ripped apart Warne & co to help India lift the title. The same year also saw India gun down the highest run-chase (315) in the format at the expense of arch-rival Pakistan, with Ganguly and Hrishikesh Kanitkar playing.
Since then, India have chased the most number of 300+ scores in ODIs besides smashing the most number of scores in excess of 300 (115).
Watching all this was a 15-16 year old boy in Najafgarh and a 10 year-old in West Delhi and during the course of the next two decades, these two boys grew up to become two of the leading lights of world cricket--- Virender Sehwag & Virat Kohli.
Sehwag entered the scene in 1999 but it was only during his return in 2001 that he established himself as one of the most feared batsmen at the top. Such was his aura that he even forced the breakup of the all-time best opening duo of Sachin and Ganguly.
Sehwag used to emulate Sachin a lot during his initial years and it looked pretty apparent when they used to walk out together. The duo went on to establish a fearsome opening pair that went on to dominate bowlers for a decade.
Sehwag fittingly holds the record for the highest score by an Indian skipper. He smashed a whirlwind 219 against the West Indies back in 2011.
KING AND HITMAN take up the mantle from Sachin, Ganguly & co
A decade post Sehwag's emergence, entered another Delhi boy in the form of Virat, who has since gone on to establish himself as possibly the greatest batsmen to ever play the format. While Sachin remains the first-ever batsman to rack up Mount.10000 in ODIs, Kohli is the fastest ever to do so.
Apart from all the records that he has broken, Kohli's legacy in this format will always be the way he made chasing totals a stroll in the park. He has the most number of hundreds (22) and the best average (96.21) in successful run-chases.
If Kohli is the Picasso of successful run-chases, the likes of Sachin and Rohit Sharma thrived in setting up totals. Sachin has scored the most hundreds (32) while Rohit has as many three double-tons while batting first.
Rohit also holds the record of most hundreds in a single WC edition (5 in 2019) and most number of 150+ scores in the format.
The arrival of Yuvraj, Kaif, Raina…….and MS DHONI!!! - The heartbeat of Indian ODI sides
No discussion about the journey of Indian ODI teams over the years can ever be completed without the mention of the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni and the glue holding the former together in Rahul Dravid.
One of the issues that India used to face during the 90s and prior to the emergence of Kohli, was the inability of their middle-order to cash in on the starts provided by the likes of Sachin, Ganguly, especially during a run-chase more often than not.
That all began to change at the turn of the millennium when Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif entered the scene. Yuvraj showed his big match temperament in his debut tournament as he smashed a match-winning 80 against defending champions Australia in the ICC Knockout Trophy.
He, along with Kaif and Dravid (who established himself as a middle-order batsman at the turn of century apart from donning keeping gloves), went to script countless number of successful run-chases between 2000-06.
Natwest final at Lord's will remain one of the watershed moments for Indian ODI cricket as they not only chased down the highest total (325) at the time but they did that courtesy of two youngsters in Yuvi and Kaif.
Yuvi and Dravid held their nerves in that memorable WC clash against Pakistan as well; a game best remembered for Sachin's epic 98 (75). The duo ensured that India did not fall away after SRT got dismissed with the team still needing 100 runs to win.
The trio of Dravid-Yuvraj-Kaif played a defining role in India's historic series win in Pakistan in 2004. While Kaif fell away after 2004, he was replaced by Suresh Raina but the biggest turning point came when a long-haired dude from Ranchi entered the scene in 2004.
Pre-2004 India had tried a million keeping options in a bid to find their own Adam Gilchrist. In return, they got an amalgamation of Gilchrist's brute power, Bevan's street smartness in the middle-order and a skipper like no other rolled in one guy.
Dhoni announced himself with a swashbuckling 148 against Pakistan in April 2005 and exactly 6 years later, he smashed that 91 against Lanka to end a 28-year wait as far as winning a WC is concerned.
In between India came agonisingly close in 2003 but were beaten comprehensively in the final by Australia. They were absolutely obligated in 2007 as defeats to Bangladesh and Lanka paved the way for a premature exit.
Dhoni, along with Yuvraj and then Raina went on to become the heartbeat of the batting-unit in the second half of 2000s, orchestrating countless run-chases with ease.
Dhoni was eventually appointed skipper in 2007 following Dravid's resignation and what followed next was a four-year period that saw India claim the WC title (2011) and the Champions Trophy in 2013.
Yuvraj was deservedly the 'Player of the tournament' for his all-round show while Raina too played two of the most significant knocks in the quarters and semis against Australia and Pakistan respectively.
Dhoni went on to lead India in ODIs for close to a decade before giving the reins to Virat in 2017. While India failed to capture a single title during Kohli's tenure, they experienced their most consistent phase in the format, winning series in Lanka, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
Kohli is statistically India's most successful skipper in ODIs but the biggest blemish of his tenure were knockout defeats to Pakistan and New Zealand in the final and semi-final of 2017 CT and 2019 WC respectively.
The image of MS Dhoni walking back after getting run-out during the semi-final in what proved to be his final game for the country remains one of the most heartbreaking images in Indian ODI history.
As India gears up to play their 1000th ODI, a new era will start under the leadership of Rohit. It is fitting that India will play the milestone game against a team that has played a huge role in them becoming a powerhouse in the format - West Indies. One can only hope that it's a start of another golden chapter that will reach its crescendo with another WC win at home in 2023.
