India ran a spirited campaign and played liked champions! 10 out of 10 wins in the run up to the finals! That too massive wins against many of the storied opponents. One of them was even against Australia, right in the opening encounter. And then the finals came up against Australia. A repeat of 2003 CWC final.
It takes one day! To play like champions on the final day. To become the champions.
Alas! It was not to be. The cookie crumbled the way it did for 10 reasons:
- Australia take a bold and contrarian call to field first – Known to set targets and seal the win in the first innings itself by posting mammoth totals, Australia went against one of their own cricketing mantras to restrict India to 241. They clearly saw something in the pitch that everyone else, even analysts and the Indian team did not see, as the general opinion was to bat first.
- Rohit gone early – After building the foundation of the innings, Rohit could’ve spent more time on the crease, even if it meant he had to play at a slower run rate. If he stuck there with Kohli for some more time, there would be no respite for the Aussies and the team could keep going at around 5-6 an over to build on the fiery start and be on track to set an unassailable total.
- Pitch had no turn to offer in the second innings – Even if we were to discount Head’s blatant attack, the pitch seemed to get better as the second innings progressed. There was nothing on offer for Jadeja and he seemed just a shadow of his usual self. While Kuldeep did bowl some googlies with around 50 runs to win, it was too little, too late.
- Head takes the attack to India – At 47/3, Australia probably were grappling with more doubters than supporters. India were only a couple of wickets away from achieving the tag of ‘World Champions’. Travis Head had other plans though, who took his usual aggressive route and decimated the Indian bowling attack just like he did in the World Test Championship Final too, leaving them with no answers whatsoever.
- Head-Labuschagne partnership – It went at a good rate unlike Kohli-Rahul’s. While Kohli and Rahul did a good job not exposing the less tested Indian lower order, Rahul could not rotate strike and even part-time bowlers Mitchell Marsh and Head were going at less than 5 runs per over. The early fireworks from Rohit had been extinguished and Australia ran through the middle overs with Pat Cummins being extremely shrewd with his bowling changes throughout, not allowing India to get accustomed to any bowler.
- Sky cannot finish and the occasion is too much for Gill – The ball seemed to slow down when Surya was batting, of course also owing to Hazlewood’s brilliantly executed slower deliveries, but something was clearly not right as Surya usually finds a way to get the ball to the boundary in the death overs, whatever the line or length. In the case of Shubman Gill, it was probably more the occasion than the bowler who got his wicket, as the overwhelmingly huge crowd’s expectations (and not to forget, a billion others!) rested upon him to get India off to a rollicking start. He gifted his wicket with an attempted pull shot going straight into the hands of the fielder at mid-on.
- Three Indian boundaries after the 10th over – As mentioned earlier, the approach was more so to prevent the lower order from coming in early than getting the runs on the board. This approach proved to be the fatal flaw in the India batting approach.
- Starc and Hazlewood get the ball to reverse – Hazelwood got the ball to reverse to get Jadeja’s wicket and swing the momentum completely in Australia’s favour. Usually the trusted death bowler for Pat Cummins, Starc was brought on earlier than usual in the 42nd over and he got the prized scalp of KL Rahul, also due to his reverse swing, that exposed the tail of the Indian batting.
- Australia were outstanding in the field – They saved at least 35-40 runs to build pressure on the Indian batsmen. Fielding like a bunch of spring chickens, the ageing Aussies gave it their all on the field, not letting the Indian batsmen catch a break. The runs saved by the fielders might have been the difference between a World Cup title and returning home empty-handed.
- “World cups have to be snatched, they don’t come served on a silver platter” – These words from Starc at the half-time proved prophetic. Australia, with as many as 7 players from the 2015 CWC final winner team, knew how to rise to the occasion and “snatch away” the world cup while fielding, bowling, and then chasing with the bat. Indian players fell short on the big day.
Hats off to India for a flawless tournament, this seemed like the tournament that could end the 10 year wait of 1.4 billion Indian fans for an ICC trophy. Australia were in it to bag an additional title and they hardly made any errors on their road to win their
6th Men’s World Cup.
Move over 2023. Bring on the 2024 T20 Cricket World Cup.
10 Reasons Why the Cookie Crumbled the Way It Did 