Last Update on: November 21st, 2023 at 03:02 pm
The shocking loss of Team India against Australia in the final of the recently concluded ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 has prompted fans and experts to analyze and pinpoint the exact reasons behind the defeat.
India had entered the final after winning all of their ten games in the competition. The Rohit Sharma-led side had blown away opponents throughout the competition and looked almost invincible. Everything was falling into place for the hosts and they were looking destined to win the World Cup.
Not many were expecting India to lose the game but Australia showed why they are the most successful side in the history of the competition by winning the title decider. The team from Down Under thrashed the Men in Blue by 6 wickets to clinch a record-extending sixth title. Eyeing a third World Cup title, India were thoroughly outplayed in the final by the Pat Cummins-led side.
Wasim Akram and Gautam Gambhir criticize Suryakumar Yadav’s demotion:
The experts have come up with several explanations while analyzing India’s defeat in the final. Several former cricketers such as Ricky Ponting, Nasser Hussain, and Harbhajan Singh believe that the decision to play on a used pitch backfired for the home country. On the other hand, the likes of Sunil Gavaskar and Virender Sehwag stated that the slow 67-run stand between KL Rahul and Virat Kohli cost India the match.
And Gautam Gambhir and Wasim Akram have now come up with another potential reason behind the loss. In a recent interview with Sportskeeda, the duo criticized India’s decision to demote Suryakumar Yadav to number 7. The hard-hitting batsman was supposed to walk in at number 6 after the dismissal of Virat Kohli. However, the team management decided to promote Ravindra Jadeja, a decision that has not impressed Gautam Gambhir and Wasim Akram much.
“I didn’t understand why Jadeja was sent ahead of Suryakumar Yadav. Why was he demoted to No. 7? That was nowhere the right call for me,” said Gautam Gambhir.
Akram quickly added: “I mean he is playing purely as a batter there. I could have understood the move if Hardik was there in the line-up.”
Speaking further, Gautam Gambhir questioned the team management’s confidence in Suryakumar’s abilities at number 6. The 2011 World Cup winner suggested that playing with the tail forced Suryakumar to take a different approach with the bat as he managed only 18 runs in 28 balls.
“Imagine if KL Rahul as batting with a certain temp with Kohli then it makes even more sense to sent Suryakumar in and ask him to play aggressive cricket, play his natural cricket because you still have Jadeja. It is very easy to say for an expert to say that Suryakumar struggled.
“But the player’s mindset is that if he gets out the next batters are Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Siraj and Kuldeep. However, if he knows that the next batsman in is Jadeja then he would have had a different mindset. If you were not confident in Suryakumar at No. 6 then you might as well should have picked someone else,” said Gautam Gambhir.
