CWC 2023 Final: Ruthless Australia Outclass, Ousmart & Outgun 'Timid' India To Bag Stellar Sixth WC Crown
Abhijit Singh Bhambra
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Ouch! This one hurts really bad. Champions never make excuses, and the ones who make excuses can never be champions. Call it nerves or the inability to handle the big match pressure, a ''timid'-looking India, despite being the favorites, was humbled by a highly motivated, hungry, and passionate Australia in all three departments of the game.
After the 'Perfect 10' against New Zealand in the semis, comes the heartbreak at the biggest stage of them all for Team India in front of a packed 120,000+ fans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. How did this happen? This wasn't the ideal script that cricket fans in the country had in mind when the World Cup Final began.
Team India cannot complain or even make any excuses for this loss. This defeat to Australia has more to do with the team's inability to handle pressure at the big stage.
Does Team India Lack Big Match Temperament?
Everything in the 2023 World Cup was designed in a way to support the Blues in the best possible ways. Firstly the schedule, a World Cup Final to be played at home, with a pitch suitable to their liking, and to top it all, the support of over a billion crazy cricket fans, should have made life easy for India and a hell of lot more difficult for Australia. Clearly, it was the other way around, at the end of it all.
Was India—not just the players but also the emotional fans—guilty of visualizing and thinking ahead even before a ball was bowled? Given the glorious run they had in the World Cup, one can't blame them. They tend to overlook the threat Australia possessed, despite being 5-time World Cup champions, and have rightfully paid the price. What was supposed to be a glory day for Rohit Sharma and Co. ended up in tears for undoubtedly the best team in the tournament.
Australia defeated India by six wickets, and other than the first ten overs of India's batting innings, the hosts were never in the game. Right after winning the toss, Pat Cummins had a perfect plan in place, and to their credit, the team executed it with pinpoint precision.
Australia's Supershow in Ahmedabad
India falter at the final hurdle, Australia rise to the occasion
Everything looks good when you win, and when you win a World Cup final, it looks even more grand. Australia didn't wait for things to happen; they forced things to happen and, most of the time, took matters into their own hands.
Australia pushed India out of their comfort zone and waited for them to make a mistake, which the Blues did. Their fielding was superb, bowling was top class and the finish was as clinical as one can ever imagine, from the Men in Gold.
One area where I was really impressed was Australia's man-to-man marking and unconventional field placements. For example, right from the first over, there was no third man in place for Rohit Sharma; instead, Australia put up a deep cover point to keep the Indian captain in check and now allowed him those free boundaries early on.
Similarly, for Virat Kohli, there was a midwicket and a square leg to keep his flick shot and the pull shot in check. Even for Suryakumar Yadav, every bit of pace was taken off by the Australian bowlers to ensure that he had to earn his runs, and there were no freebies on offer.
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Pat Cummins led the bowling attack superbly and knew they were in control of the game when only four boundaries were hit between numbers 11 and 50. The stranglehold on the Indian batsmen was due to an excellent understanding of the conditions, backed by brilliant execution from the Aussie bowlers.
With a modest total of 240 runs on the board, it was never going to be enough unless India took some early wickets. The first three came quickly, but from there on, it was a one-man show from Travis Head. The wicket also became better for batting, but under immense pressure, the South Australian played an innings to remember.
Like Rohit Sharma said, they did everything possible out there in the park, but it wasn't to be. As a fan, India lost the game when Virat Kohli was out for 54 in the 29th over. You could see that the wind was blown out of India's lungs once Kohli was dismissed, and they could never recover, kick on, and post a huge total. The crowd too, including Kohli's better half, Anushka Sharma, went into silent mode, as there was nothing much to cheer for in the Indian batting innings from there on.
Australia, despite all odds, in a match where everything was stacked against them, right from the fan's support to the pitch conditions, outclassed India in every department. Their ruthless professionalism drowned over a billion people's hope in the country. In the process of winning their sixth WC title, the Aussies also taught an important lesson to every other opponent on how to hold on to your nerves and play with an intent to win by taking calculative risks and emerging champions.
The wait for ICC silverware now goes beyond a decade. The only silver lining in those defeats is that India has made it to ten finals across formats, which shows an incredible amount of consistency but also displays a lack of intent and succumbs to pressure on the day when it matters the most.
As Head Coach Rahul Dravid said in the post-match presser, the 'sun will rise again tomorrow'. Yes, it will, but when the dust settles in, Team India will be the first to admit that they did let go of a golden opportunity to etch their names in history books forever. The lessons for India from the tournament are undoubtedly to show courage, bravery, and an appetite to take a risk in order to become World Champions in the future.
Australia rightfully deserves to be the ODI World Cup Champions, and with it hit a sixer of ICC Silverwares in the 50-over format. No matter how well a team has played right through the tournament, the bitter truth is that at the end of it all, only the champions are remembered, not the runner-ups.
Ten years down the line, when the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, and others take a look back at the 2023 ODI World Cup Final, they will realize what a big miss it was, even though they were the overwhelming favorites to win.
Make no mistake about it, Team India has enthralled and given moments of joy and umpteen happiness to one and all in the country with their remarkable brand of cricket, but they would be the first to admit that Australia, with meticulous planning and mind-boggling execution, was just too hot to handle.
However, for Indian cricket fans, the dream is over, and the wait elongates till 2027. Wondering how many players from the current lot will be playing till then and whether the 50-over-cricket will survive in itself—that's a debate in itself.
Well played, Australia; you were hands down the better team on the night. You once again showed the whole world that you should never count Aussies out, as winning ICC silverware is in your DNA.
(The author is an expert in cricket and has worked as a sports writer for broadcast and multimedia platforms for nearly a decade.)