Mumbai, Dec 31 (IANS): As the year draws to a close and the Indian cricket fans commiserate with themselves in despair after the embarrassing defeat to South Africa in the first Test of the series, former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad hoped, in his New Year wishes, to see the team winning a championship.

In a heartfelt message on Saturday for the Indian cricket team, wishing them a successful 2024 season.

In a message posted a message on X, formerly Twitter, which said the year 2023 was a year of "What could have been" for Rohit Sharma's Indian team.

Prasad said that the Indian team dominated the ODI World Cup, winning nine matches in a row but had one bad day against Australia in the final. He also pointed at the sloppy performance in the World Test Championship Final in England and hoped that next year, the Indian team will win an ICC Trophy.

"It's been a year of 'What could have been' for Team India. Dominated the World Cup only to have a very bad day when it mattered in the finals. Lost the WTC finals as well. Travis Head was brilliant in both of these games. Hope in the coming year, India starts winning Championships which has eluded them for more than a decade now. Wishing the best for Team India in the coming year and always," Prasad wrote.

India last won their last major ICC Tournament way back in 2013 -- the ICC Champions Trophy under the captaincy of M.S Dhoni. Before that, Dhoni had led India to victory in the 2011 World Cup.

In 2023, India reached the finals of two ICC events -- the WTC Final and the ODI World Cup final.

Prasad hoped that the team would go a step ahead in 2024 at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in Bangladesh and end their decade-long drought in ICC tournaments.