First Off Day In The Tournament Costs India The World Cup
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2023-11-20 02:09:58
About the Author
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
Having displayed a solid game plan which was well supported by all players who knew what they had to do, India somehow lost the plot in the World Cup final to go down tamely to Australia by 6 wickets. The Indian batting could not click in the face of some disciplined bowling by Australian bowlers which was ably supported by excellent fielding. While Rohit Sharma started well in the manner he has made his own in this tournament, Shubman Gill was out to a bad shot which pushed India back. Sharma, too, was guilty of going for an unwanted heave off Maxwell and the resultant scoop was caught brilliantly by player of the match Travis Head, running backwards and across and catching the ball in the nick of time. Shreyas Iyer could not remove his bat in time from a beautiful ball from Cummins and wicketkeeper Josh Inglis completed a simple catch. After that, a 67-run partnership between Virat Kohli and K L Rahul raised some hopes but when Virat was deceived and played on to a delivery from Pat Cummins, at 148 for 4 in the 29th over, India was unlikely to make a match of it. The Indians never attacked and the crawl put Australia on top.
When Australia batted, the Indian bowlers somehow lost the fire, zip and penetration they had displayed throughout the tournament. Although Shami consumed Warner early on and then Bumrah took Marsh and Smith in quick succession to reduce Australia to 47 for 3 in the 7th over, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne ensured that there were no further losses for the Australians. Their 192-run partnership took Australia home. On the day, nothing Rohit Sharma tried worked. The bowling changes were not effective and the spinners did not deliver for him. None of the Indian bowlers troubled Head and Labuschagne and Head, especially, went from strength to strength and was finding the gaps easily. It was a poor all-round show by the Indians and they looked a completely different team on the day.
The Australians deserve credit for bringing the only unbeaten team in the tournament to heel. They were thoroughly professional in their approach with disciplined bowling, excellent fielding and composed batting. The same cannot be said of the Indians who surprisingly looked out of depth. It was a heartbreaking loss, especially for Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as they have most likely played their last ODI World Cup.
