Last Update on: November 20th, 2023 at 01:16 pm
Team India’s head coach Rahul Dravid has backed his players by denying allegations that the Indian batters played with fear during the middle overs of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 final against Australia. Australian skipper Pat Cummins won the toss and decided to bowl first. While Rohit Sharma said that he would have chosen to bat first. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli added a quickfire 46 runs for the second wicket, and then Virat Kohli and KL Rahul stitched up a partnership of 67 runs for the fourth wicket.
After the toss, it looked like a win-win situation for both skippers as Pat Cummins decided to bowl and Rohit Sharma wanted to bat anyway. The difference in the approach was evident as the Indian team crawled to 240 on a tricky track in Ahmedabad. Australia chased down the target of 241 in the 43rd over. The Indian team set the tone in the Narendra Modi Stadium with Rohit Sharma’s quickfire 47 runs off just 31 deliveries. He slammed four boundaries and three maximums in his innings.
“I won’t agree that we played with fear in this tournament. We scored 80 runs in the first 10 overs in the final. Even in this final, we didn’t play with fear,” Rahul Dravid said at the post-match press conference.
“In the middle overs, they bowled really well, we lost 3 wickets. Whenever we thought we would play attacking and positive cricket, we lost wickets, So we had to rebuild again. Whenever a partnership was broken, we had to rebuild,” Rahul Dravid added.
India Did Not Found A Boundary For 97 Balls
India’s momentum slumped after Rohit’s dismissal in the tenth over. Shreyas Iyer was dismissed just a few balls after Rohit’s wicket. Pat Cummins took Shreyas Iyer’s wicket to put the pressure on KL Rahul and Virat Kohli. The Rahul-Virat duo adopted a conservative approach, focusing on risk aversion and running singles to keep the scoreboard going. However, this strategy led to a long drought of boundaries lasting for a whopping 97 deliveries.
Travis Head didn’t miss a trick in his flawless innings of 137 and was the star for Australia in their victory against India in the finals. Australia clinched their sixth ODI World Cup title with a nine-match unbeaten streak after coming back from two consecutive losses in the initial stage of the World Cup
