The 2023 ODI World Cup in India created an “economic impact” of USD 1.39 billion with tourism among the biggest beneficiaries, according to a report released by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday. The Economic Impact Assessment conducted by Nielsen for the ICC, claimed that the mega-event held in October-November last year was the biggest ever ODI World Cup. “The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 has demonstrated the significant economic power of cricket, generating economic benefit of USD 1.39 billion (Rs 11,637 crore) for India,” ICC Chief Executive, Geoff Allardice said in a statement.

Australia ended India’s unbeaten run in the tournament to win the trophy for a record-extending sixth time.

“The impact of tourism across the host cities amounted to USD 861.4 million of revenue generation, through accommodation, travel, transportation and food and beverage because of a massive influx of domestic and foreign tourists attending the matches,” read an ICC statement.

“The secondary and incremental spends within the economy was a key driver, generating USD 515.7 million, which was approximately 37 per cent of the total impact.” However, the ICC did not specify whether the massive figure cited in the report is actual revenue.

A record-breaking 1.25 million spectators attended the mega event, of which nearly 75 per cent were attending an ICC 50-over match for the first time ever, the report claimed.

“Nearly 55 per cent of the international respondents had previously visited India regularly, whilst an injection of new visitors thanks to the World Cup saw 19% of international attendees making their first ever visit to the country.

“International travellers visited multiple tourist destinations during their stay which amounted to an economic impact of USD281.2 million and nearly 68 per cent of international attendees said that they would recommend India as a tourist destination to friends and family in the future further enhancing India’s global image,” read the statement from the governing body.

Over 48,000 full and part time jobs were created by the event through direct involvement in delivering the tournament, as well as other organisations across the hospitality sector, added the report.

“The event created thousands of jobs and showcased India as a premier tourist destination, proving that ICC events not only engage fans passionately but also contribute significantly to the economies of our host nations,” Allardice said.

Former Indian head coach and skipper Rahul Dravid opened up on Australian batter Travis Head‘s counter-attacking knock against Men in Blue in the ICC Cricket World Cup final last year, which shattered the country’s dreams of lifting the trophy at home. Speaking at the CEAT Cricket Awards on Wednesday, Dravid said that the Indian bowlers managed to beat Travis’s bat around 15 times, but he did not touch a single ball, highlighting that sometimes, one just needs a bit of luck even though cricket is largely a skill-based game.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Dravid said, “I remember whatever it was, we beat Travis Head’s bat 15 times — he did not touch a single ball. You know, things can go your way sometimes, but you have to stick to the process. I have had time to reflect on it. I have had time to reflect on a lot of things we have done. You do realise, sometimes, you have to do a lot of these things, you have to do the process, you have to do everything right,” said Dravid.

“Sometimes at the end of the day, you need a little bit of luck. Sometimes (it is) the skill, but we needed a guy who could keep his foot within one inch of a line,” he added.

Dravid also lauded the current generation of Indian players for being able to carry forward the legacy of the older stars from the 2000s, by staying dominant across all formats, winning the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, ICC Champions Trophy 2013, ICC T20 World Cup 2024 among many other accomplishments.

“I left in 2011-2012. These players have been able to carry the legacy forward. If you just look at the success that we have had over the last 12 years in all the three formats of the game, the time that after we left, it has been absolutely phenomenal,” said Dravid.

“Very easily, clearly in a lot of the rankings, we are always (No.) 1 or 2… we are always up there with anyone. To be able to go out and win that, just the kind of cricket that we play, the level of skill of some of our players, the way that they approach the game, is great,” concluded Dravid.

The 26th edition of the awards honoured a distinguished group of cricketers and sports leaders who showcased exceptional talent and leadership throughout the year.

Phil Salt was celebrated as the Men’s T20I Batter of the Year, while Tim Southee earned the title of Men’s T20I Bowler of the Year. In recognition of his tactical brilliance, Shreyas Iyer received the Award for Outstanding Leadership for winning the Indian Premier League (IPL) with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Sai Kishore was recognized as the Domestic Cricketer of the Year for his consistent performances on the domestic circuit.

Virat Kohli took home the Men’s ODI Batter of the Year award, and Mohammad Shami was named the Men’s ODI Bowler of the Year.

The Award for Most Matches as a Captain in Women’s T20I History was awarded to Harmanpreet Kaur, while Yashashvi Jaiswal and Ravichandran Ashwin were honoured as the Men’s Test Batter of the Year and Men’s Test Bowler of the Year, respectively. On the women’s side, Deepti Sharma was named the Women’s Indian Bowler of the Year, and Smriti Mandhana earned the title of Women’s Indian Batter of the Year.

The Award for the Fastest Double Century in Women’s Test went to Shafali Verma, while Jay Shah was recognized with the Award for Excellence in Sports Administration for their significant contributions to the sport. For his glorious contribution to the world of cricket, Rahul Dravid was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Mumbai, Aug 21 Former India head coach Rahul Dravid on Wednesday said the support staff strived to carry the energetic “team atmosphere” from the ODI World Cup in 2023 to the T20 showpiece, and the approach helped the team to end a barren run in ICC tournaments.

Dravid masterminded India’s triumph in the T20 World Cup in the Americas before signing off from his role as the head coach.

“Honestly, I didn’t want to do anything different. I think we ran a fantastic campaign in the one-day World Cup, Rohit and the team, everyone involved in that one-day World Cup, we ran a superb campaign,” Dravid said at the Ceat Cricket Rating Awards here.

India had suffered a heartbreaking defeat against Australia in the ODI World Cup final at Ahmedabad.

“There’s nothing we could have done more in terms of our preparation, the planning, the execution of what we needed to do for 10 games in a row to dominate, to win the game we did, play the game we did,” said Dravid.

The Bengaluru man said he and the rest of the coaching staff did not want to break the set pattern of a cordial dressing room. “I did not want to change anything. If you’d asked me and we had a discussion with our support staff, we’d get together with the coaches and say, what do you think we should do differently?” “The common consensus (among the team) was we need to do exactly what we did. We need to create the same energy, create the same vibe, the same team atmosphere that we had and then just hope that on the day, we’ll have a little bit of luck,” he said.

Though he did not experience playing in a World Cup in either of the limited-over formats in India, he was able to soak in all the elation as the head coach.

“To travel all over this country and to be able to experience that joy and passion of the fans. I’ve never been a part of a World Cup as a player in India, but just the experience as a coach to go from city to city and just walk and see what this game meant to the people of this country was phenomenal. It was incredible,” he said.

Dravid said Australia were the better team during the ODI World Cup final.

“I thought we ran a phenomenal campaign. We came unstuck in the final and Australia played better cricket than us on the day. They were a better team and congratulations (to them). That can happen in sport and that’s what sport is about,” he said. 

The Indian cricket team is currently riding the high of of the 2024 T20 World Cup triumph. Rohit Sharma and his men ended a 11-year drought for an ICC title by beating South Africa in the final. However, few months ago the situation was completely different. India, seemingly invincible till that stage, lost to Australia in the final of the ODI World Cup 2023 in Ahmedabad. If the loss was not enough, a couple of months later, former India star Mohammad Kaif said that pitch had been deliberately made slow.

“I was there for three days. Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid inspected the pitch every day for 3 days ahead of the final. They stood beside the pitch for an hour every day. I saw the pitch change its colour. There was no watering the pitch, no grass on the track. India wanted to give Australia a slow track. This is the truth, even if people don’t want to believe it,” Kaif said on Lallantop in an interview.

Now, Viram Rathour, ex-batting coach of the Indian cricket team, who was there for both T20 World Cup 2014 and the ODI World Cup 2023, broke his silence on the issue.

“I’ve heard this story that the pitch was different, which I don’t agree with at all. We played on similar wickets in the earlier matches as well. Matches against Australia, Pakistan and England were also played on slow pitches. The Ahmedabad pitch, however, eased out,” Rathour told Sportstar. 

It was India captain Rohit Sharma who won the toss and opted to bat first. Australia Pat Cummins, on the other hand, was happy to bowl first, knowing that the pitch is likely to get better as the day progressed.

“The feeling was that Australia had Pat Cummins, and Mitchell Starc, so India wanted to give a slow pitch, and that was our mistake. Many people say that curators do their own thing and we don’t influence – that is rubbish. When you are moving around the pitch – you have to say just two lines – please don’t put water, just reduce the grass. This happens. That is truth. And it should be done. You are playing at home. And we did it a little too much,” Kaif added.