Has the IPL diluted India’s home advantage in the 2023 Cricket World Cup?

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India is the favorite to win the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup. They have a very experienced team, with plenty of players performing in what is highly likely to be their last-ever World Cup. India is also the number one ranked ODI team in the world, and they have the benefit of home conditions.

Furthermore, India is the most financially and resource-rich nation in the world when it comes to cricket. So surely it’s their time to win an ICC event?

India favorites to win the World Cup for a third time

The bookmakers certainly think it is India’s time. India is the betting favorite at +140 to win the competition. Their closest rivals are 2015 winners Australia, who are at cricket betting odds of +400, with South Africa and England both at +500.

But after failing at the previous two World Cups, is India a worthwhile favorite? And why have they failed so much in ICC competitions since 2011?

Has the IPL made India’s job more difficult in 2023?

All the world’s best players compete in the IPL. And this gives them a massive advantage for the 2023 World Cup.

There was a time when teams touring India didn’t know how to deal with the conditions. Not just the wickets that are played on. But other factors can influence a match, such as the humidity and in the case of day/night matches, the dew.

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Come on <a href=”https://twitter.com/rajasthanroyals?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@rajasthanroyals</a>!! đź‘Šđź‘Ś <a href=”https://t.co/BQ8iKzEloq”>pic.twitter.com/BQ8iKzEloq</a></p>— Ben Stokes (@benstokes38) <a href=”https://twitter.com/benstokes38/status/1381517865879273477?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>April 12, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

Now, thanks to the IPL, the likes of Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes of England, along with David Warner, Steve Smith, Pat Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood of Australia, are almost as familiar with Indian conditions, as the Indian players themselves are.

The mystery has gone. The fear factor of not knowing what to expect in India has disappeared.

And it’s not just the top English and Australian players who know how to handle the conditions. New Zealand’s Kane Williamson is a veteran of the IPL, as are the Kiwi’s two most experienced seam bowlers, Trent Boult and Tim Southee.

Also very comfortable in Indian conditions is South Africa’s explosive opening batter, Quinton de Kock, big-hitting all-rounder David Miller, and middle order batter Aiden Markram. These guys have been playing IPL cricket for some years and know what to expect when they play in India.

Home advantage can be a big factor in cricket. The previous three winners of the ICC Cricket World Cup have all been the host nation, including India, back in 2011. And it’s 2011 you have to go back to, to find the last time India won an ICC event. That was when MS Dhoni led his nation to their second World Cup victory.

No joy for India since 2011

Since then, there has been nothing – not even a T20 World Cup win. In 2015, when defending the 50-over World Cup, India topped Pool B winning six from six. They then defeated Bangladesh by 109 runs in the last eight, before losing to Australia by a massive 95 runs in the semi-final.

Four years later in England, it was a similar story. India topped the round-robin group table with seven wins from nine matches. Again, they lost in the semi-final, this time to New Zealand by 18 runs.

The IPL has been mooted as a reason why India isn’t winning ICC events. But the previous two World Cups were in Australia and England, making it difficult to pin the blame solely on the franchise competition. But if India fails to win again this year. Those calls will almost certainly get louder.