Last Update on: November 20th, 2023 at 11:35 am
The World Cup 2023 culminated with Australia winning their sixth title by beating India in the final in Ahmedabad on Sunday, November 19. In the end, the match turned out to be a fairly one-sided one with the Aussies winning the match by six wickets.
Australia won the match and asked India to bat first in the World Cup 2023 final. The Men in Blue played with the same XI that they had been playing since the league game against the Kiwis. Rohit Sharma yet again gave the team a fast start. However, the Australian bowlers did well to restrict the Indian run-scoring in the middle overs.
India Fails When It Mattered The Most
There was a period of 20 overs after the 15th over of the Indian innings where the Indian batters failed to hit a single boundary in the World Cup 2023. Virat Kohli (54) and KL Rahul (66) added a 67-run stand which was the highest partnership in the innings for India. The Australian pacers led by Mitchell Starc came to to bowl brilliant spells in the final 10 overs where they got the ball to reverse swing. This also meant that India ended with 240 on the board which was well below-par than the target they aimed for.
Australia were 47/3 losing their top-order early. The Aussies were three down inside the first seven overs losing David Warner (7), Mitchell Marsh (15), and Steve Smith (4). However, Travis Head (137*) and Marnus Labuschagne (58*) added a 192 and in the process batted the Indians out of the game. Head hit 15 fours and 4 sixes and absolutely decimated the Indian attack after getting set.
Also Read: “We Tried Everything But…” – Rohit Sharma Shattered After India’s Heartbreaking World Cup Final Loss
The Aussies won their sixth World Cup title in the end and their first since 2015. Pat Cummins went into joining the elite list of Australian captains who won World Cup titles for their country. Head joined Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist as the third Aussie batter to score a century in a World Cup final on a day when India probably were seen as the favorites.
Meanwhile, in this article, we will rate the players of the Indian cricket team who played in the final and gave it their all to win the game for the country.
Indian Team Players’ Rating After World Cup 2023
Rohit Sharma – 8/10
Indian skipper Rohhit Sharma was praised for his aggressive intent with the bat inside the powerplay. He ended the tournament as the second-highest run-scorer with 597 runs from 11 games at an average of 54.27 and a strike rate touching close to 190.
He played a knock of 47 in the final giving his team a fast start but the middle order could not capitalise. Nonetheless, after the game, his captaincy was praised by the cricketers. He deserves all the credit for his intent and walking the talk.
Shubman Gill – 5/10
Gill scored just four in the final. Overall, he ended with 354 runs at an average of 44.25 at a strike rate of 106.95. He just scored four in the final. He missed the first two games and scored four fifties with a best of 92. Playing in Ahmedabad, he was expected to bat a lot better but he could not do justice to his talent. Overall, he had a decent campaign but he was expected to do a lot better. Fair to say, he had a below-average outing in World Cup 2023.
Virat Kohli – 8/10
Former skipper Virat Kohli ended up scoring 765 runs in the tournament and eventually winning the Player Of The Tournament award. He was India’s most consistent run-scorer and someone who inspired one and all on and off the pitch. Kohli scored 54 in the final, but unfortunately, that was not enough. He needed to carry on and get a big score which unfortunately did not happen. However, due to his sheer consistency in run-scoring, he deserves an 8.
Shreyas Iyer – 6/10
The right-hander was a good addition to the Indian middle-order. He proved his worth by scoring quick runs in the batting line-up but failed to repeat his heroics in the final. With two centuries he scored 530 runs in the tournament at an average of 66.25.
What he needs to learn is to take more responsibility in crunch situations. He scored just four in the final when he expected to score at least a half-century. Going forward, he is expected to be one of the key players in the Indian cricket team and hence play with more responsibility.
KL Rahul – 7/10
Rahul scored 452 runs in the tournament and affected 17 dismissals in the tournament which is most by an Indian wicket-keeper in a World Cup. He scored 66 in the final. Overall, he had a memorable tournament and was a key discovery in the Indian middle-order. He too was criticized for scoring slowly in the final as the rest of the Indian batters struggled. However, keeping his attributes in mind, he deserves a seven.
Ravindra Jadeja -7/10
Jadeja turned out to be crucial with the ball taking 16 wickets in 11 matches at an average of 24.88. He played a few important knocks with the bat and was an absolute gun fielder throughout the tournament. He set the standards in terms of fielding in the Indian cricket team. In the final, he had a chance to contribute more with the bat but he could only score nine off 22 balls.
Suryakumar Yadav – 4/10
SKY did not stand up to the expectations throughout the tournament. He played seven matches and scored just 106 runs at an average of 17.67. He scored 18 off 28 balls in the final 10 overs when he needed to go big for India. His inclusion in the Indian ODI side has been questionable for a very long time now and this performance might see him getting dropped from the Indian ODI side now. Overall, he turned out to be a disappointing addition to Team India.
Mohammed Siraj – 3/10
Barring the game against Sri Lanka, Siraj was a very ordinary bowler for Team India throughout the tournament. he picked up 13 wickets in the tournament and went for 469 runs, the most runs conceded by an Indian bowler. The pacer was rather ordinary in almost all the games he played and might be dropped for a length of time now given his recent performance.
Jasprit Bumrah – 8/10
Bumrah and Shami were the highlights of the Indian pace attack throughout the tournament. Both took wickets at regular intervals. Both of them were consistent in terms of pitching the ball in the right areas as well. Bumrah is truly now the spearhead of the India pace attack and will have a huge role to play in the team’s success in the next few years.
Mohammed Shami – 9/10
“The comeback should be stronger than the setback” is a phrase that goes perfectly with Mohammed Shami. he was not a part of the playing XI for the first four games. An untimely injury to Hardik Pandya meant that Shami got an opportunity to show his skills and he did not disappoint.
He ended as the top wicket-taker in the tournament with 24 wickets from just seven matches bowling less than 650 overs in the tournament. He almost had a flawless performance.
Kuldeep Yadav – 8/10
Kuldeep Yadav too deserves an 8 for his performances in the tournament. Like Shami, he too made the hard yards and made a comeback into the Indian team after being dropped from the team for two years after the 2019 World Cup.
He was not even playing for KKR in the IPL for a couple of seasons before he started making a comeback since IPL 2022 The Indian bowlers did not get a chance in the final as they had too little a score to play with against a good Australian batting unit. Kuldeep proved yet again that he is here for the long haul.
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