READY FOR NEXT LEVEL?

The Indian team have made a heartbreaking habit of losing at major events, after fighting fit and looking likely to win. The year ahead offers a chance to build new T20 capabilities - as beloved stars age out of some formats - and find the balance that India so dearly need

- Somshuvra Laha

Hope, as we are often reminded, makes the world go round.

India, however, must feel short-changed by now, kicking off every year with renewed hope only to spiral to another ICC tournament failure. Adelaide in 2022, Ahmedabad in 2023... the ordeal seems endless. The ODI World Cup heartbreak will not fade away soon. And while bilateral white-ball cricket remains a predictable affair at home, Tests should bring an exciting edge to what is set to be another packed calendar for India.

Five Tests at home against a Bazball-inspired England, along with a historic fiveTest tour of Australia later in the year, round off quite a testing 2024, which will begin with a New Year's Test in Cape Town in South Africa - historically India's most challenging overseas destination.

All this, of course, is aside from the T20 World Cup, which-and this must be getting boring by now - presents India with another chance of redemption in the ICC events space.

Realistically, the women's team probably have a better chance of winning the T20 World Cup in September-October because a) Bangladesh is a more familiar host and b) the players are more in sync with the format, thanks to the Women's Premier League (WPL) and the international franchise experience gained by some players.

At the junior level, another U-19 World Cup, this time in South Africa in January-February, promises to throw up another clutch of players that will add to India's already massive talent pool.