India was the team that defeated all the teams convincingly and excelled throughout the tournament but couldn't bring the World Cup trophy home.
Yesterday, my article entailed, will Australia spoil India's party in the finals and unfortunately for all Indians fans they did by putting up a clinical performance in all three departments, first with the ball and fielding and then Travis Head played the innings of the finals to break Indian hearts.
India was the team who defeated all the teams convincingly and excelled throughout the tournament and was just one step away from bringing the World Cup trophy home. More so because it was in their own backyard and with 120,000 fans backing them. So where did India falter?
If I had to be honest, it was because the wicket prepared was very dry and slow which made batting difficult. Rohit Sharma as he has been doing all tournament, gave India a rousing start but once he got out India found batting difficult on this pitch and went into their shell. Yes, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul had to consolidate but hitting boundaries on this wicket was challenging and India managed just five boundaries in the last 40 overs.
Finally, when Australia came on the ground for batting, the ball did move around in the first ten overs, but the wicket settled down in the evening and batting became definitely much easier than what was in the morning. This is without taking anything away from the Aussies who were absolutely brilliant and bowled to their field, their fast bowlers got the reverse swing because of the abrasive nature of the wicket which was not the case when India bowled.
This wicket was similar to India's first match at Chennai where Pat Cummins had decided to bat first, and their batters struggled on that slow pitch and were bowled out for just 199. Even though India was 3 down for nothing, India beat Australia in that game comprehensively because batting became easier in the evening and India capitalised.
Man-to-man India was superior, therefore I think India would have had a better opportunity if the surface had been suitable for an ODI. However, once you prepare a sluggish, dry track, the opposition enters the game, and the Indians pay the price.
But there is nothing to take away from this Indian team who were simply outstanding throughout the tournament and need to keep their chin high. Yes, India faltered at the last hurdle but that's the beauty of this wonderful game.
The author of this article is Anis Sajan, a cricket enthusiast and prominent businessman who serves as Vice Chairman, the Danube Group.
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 "Ind vs Aus: Reasons behind India's loss against Australia in ODI World Cup 2023")
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