Sunday Witnessed the finals of the 2023 ODI World Cup at the Narendra Modi Stadium. The Indian Dream run ends for Team India with Australia winning the all-important finals convincingly to win their 6^th World Cup Title.

This is the second World Cup Final loss for team India against the Aussies after the 2003 Finals.

Presented By: Raghunath Nair

Australia won their 6^th World Cup Title proving why they have dominated the cricket world in the last 2 decades. While India came into the finals as the hot favorites, Cricket neutrals believed that Australia had a 60-40 chance purely on their record in ICC Finals.

Australia having lost their opening match of the tournament against India, came back strongly in the finals with some brilliant bowling, backed up with impressive batting, which helped them to tilt the finals in their favour.

Toss was the Boss Yet again. A Brave Decision to field first

Toss played a key role in the finals as the chase became an easy affair under lights and with heavy dew.

When Pat Cummins chose to field first, a lot of cricket pundits were surprised by the decision. Even the great Alan Border felt that Pat had missed a trick and made the same mistake that Saurav did in the 2003 finals.

In the 2003 finals putting Australia to bat first was probably the biggest mistake by an Indian captain along with Azhar’s decision to bowl first in the 1995/96 World Cup Semi Finals.

In 2003, Ricky Ponting single-handedly batted India out of the finals.

A similar feat was expected at the packed Narendra Modi Stadium. But Pat Cummin’s decision proved to be one of the bravest and most well-calculated decisions taken in Cricket World Cup Final history. Australia took advantage of the dew to orchestrate an easy chase in the end.

India’s Batting

Rohit Sharma gave India the expected big push in the first 10 overs but lost Shubman Gill who was caught trying to play a pull at mid-on

Once Rohit fell, the pressure of the final took a toll on the Indian Batsmen and a tame dismissal of the Semifinals centurion, Shreyas Iyer meant that Virat Kohli and KL Rahul had to do the repair work, something, which the Indian team rarely faced during the group stage.

With the quick loss of the top-order batting lineup, Panic had set in the team.

India crawled their way to 240. A score, not enough for the finals, but it still was runs on the board.

A sense of belief came back into the huge crowd who wanted a repeat of the 2011 Indian victory.

Australia Innings

The low total enabled Australia to see off the new ball bowlers without taking undue risk. Mohammed Shami, the inform bowler opened along with Jasprit Bumrah who took first blood and struck early.

A score on the board and Australia’s past trouble against spin on the subcontinent gave India an even chance, especially after David Warner, Mitch Marsh, and Steve Smith were dismissed.

Dew started to set in and the worst fear of all Indian fans came true when batting started becoming easier with the dew on the outfield.

Brain fade Moment for Steve Smith

What would be considered a brain fade moment Steve Smith was struck in front of the wicket on a Jasprit Bumrah delivery. Replays showed that the impact was outside the line, but Steve Smith preferred to walk out without considering to use the DRS

Brilliant World Cup knock

Travis Head missed the first five games of the tournament with a fractured hand but Cummins,  put faith in his player and brought him into the team immediately when available.

Travis Head played one of the innings of the World Cup Final history with a well compiled 137 runs at a strike rate of 114. A chanceless knock in the big finals.

He was well supported by Labuschagne who also made a well compiled 58 runs. He played an agonizing slow innings which demoralised the Indian bowling lineup. Labuschagne played a well scripted knock which helped Travis head to dominate from the other end.

Travis Head became the third Australian man after Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting to score a century in a World Cup final.

Points where India Faltered

• India should have realised the Dew factor. A 50+ runs above par score meant the Indian Team had to score a score in excess of 300.
• The Pressure of finals.
• Bowling looked very ordinary. Did the pressure of the big finals caught on to Team India.

Points scored by Australia

• Kept the pressure on the field with some very impressive fielding display.
• Bowling was textbook level and the focus was on taking wickets and building pressure.
• During the chase, the team did not panic after the early 3 wickets.
• Brilliant Partnership which sealed the deal.

Well played Team Australia & Pat Cummin’s dream 2023 season

Australia under Pat Cummins had a dream 2023 with lifting the World Test Championship mace and retaining the Ashes in England.

In the 2023 World Cup, Australia peaked at the right time and the re-entry of Travis Head helped them to strengthen their batting line which looked tentative during the initial rounds.

The South Africa Semi Finals would have made them realise that chasing may need a different game plan which they corrected in the finals.

During their campaign, some individual performances boosted the confidence of a team unsure in the initial stage of the competition to finally win their 6th.

Narendra Modi Stadium – Not ideal stadium for a World Cup Final

Time After Time, Dew has played spoilsports in major finals recently from IPL, Asia Cup, and now the World Cup. While the Ahmedabad Stadium is a cricket venue all Indians are proud of, it definitely is not an ideal venue for finals as Dew plays an unfair advantage for teams batting second.

The end of an era

India‘s campaign was nothing less than spectacular but fell flat at the last hurdle. Team India under Rohit Sharma looked like a different team and even with the handicap of playing with only 5 bowlers, they made it to the finals with ease.

Legends of the game, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma may not have age on their side to wait for another shot at the ODI Title in 2027.

What could be termed a dream run for team India came to a halt when Australia managed to play the better game on the day to clinch their 6th World Cup title

Also Read: Why India is not the hot favourite to win the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup