Australia skipper Pat Cummins’s uncanny captaincy proved to be a major difference in the World Cup final between India and Australia
Our Bureau
Sydney/Mumbai/Karachi
Skipper Pat Cummins heaped praise on the Australia team claiming that they are still “buzzing” after their record 6th ODI World Cup triumph. This year Australia have spent most of their time away from home since February and have enjoyed a successful season.
They defeated India in the World Test Championship final at the Oval and then went on to retain the Ashes series. After their tour of South Africa, it seemed as if they had run out of steam after losing their first two games of the World Cup campaign, but they bounced back to lift the cup at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
After arriving at the Sydney Airport ecstatic Cummins said as quoted from ESPNcricinfo, “Every half an hour or so you kind of remember that you just won a World Cup and get excited all over again. We’re still buzzing. It’s been a big year. To top it off with this, it’s been amazing. I think they have created their own legacy. A World Cup, you only get one chance every four years and especially playing somewhere like India, it’s hard. Adding to that an away Ashes series, a World Test Championship. We couldn’t have planned for much better. So a pretty satisfied group.”
Coming to the match, India bundled out on a score of 240 in 50 overs. On a tough batting surface, skipper Rohit Sharma (47 in 31 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes), Virat Kohli (54 in 63 balls, with four boundaries) and KL Rahul (66 in 107 balls, with one four) posted important knocks.
Mitchell Starc (3/55) was the pick of the bowlers for Australia. Skipper Pat Cummins (2/34) and Josh Hazlewood (2/60) also bowled well. Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell got a wicket each.
While chasing 241, India had the Aussies down at 47/3. Knocks from Travis Head (137 in 120 balls, with 15 fours and four sixes) and Marnus Labuschagne (58 in 110 balls, with four boundaries) left the Indian team without answers and guided them to a six-wicket win.
“Majority of us said let’s just chase”: Warner
Australia won the ODI World Cup defeating India on Sunday and the Aussie opener David Warner has revealed why they decided to field after winning the toss.
While speaking on AB de Villiers’ YouTube channel, the left-handed batter said that all the stats were telling them to choose bat first. However, the squad decided to chase.
“They were discussing it the night before for a good hour-and-a-half or two hours about what to do. All the stats coming through were saying, bat first and put runs on the board. But for once, when we asked that question, I think a majority of us said let’s just chase,” Warner said.
The Aussie batter revealed that they decided to ball to understand the conditions first and then chase. “If we bowl well and understand the conditions like that, we can then chase and then anchor,” he added.
Warner also heaped praise on Pat Cummins and said that he was calm the whole time. “He has been so calm the whole time. He was criticised in England for his fielding placements, being defensive and all that…It’s not fair. I get that as a captain he is leading the ship but as a whole unit, we take responsibility ourselves. It was a testament to that in terms of the way we went about it,” he added.
Captaincy made the difference: Suresh Raina
2011 World Cup winner Suresh Raina feels Australia skipper Pat Cummins’s uncanny captaincy proved to be a major difference in the World Cup final between India and Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Cummins made an unprecedented move by putting India to bat in the final, putting the Indian team in a position that skipper Rohit Sharma wanted. But as the final started to transpire the move paid dividends as the Baggy Greens restricted the unbeaten Man in Blue on a score of 240.
Some of the reasons that contributed to the success were the constant rotation of bowlers and fielding changes according to the game plan.
“What swung the game in Australia’s favour was Pat Cummins’ captaincy. The way he brought Glenn Maxwell into the attack to get the wicket of Rohit Sharma with a brilliant catch from Travis Head was very smart. Adam Zampa was great too, as was Cummins himself in dismissing Virat Kohli. They outplayed India and were very solid in their planning,” Raina said in his column for the ICC.
“I think Cummins showed real temperament in his captaincy. He changed his bowlers knowing he could put pressure on each India batter even though they were all in such good form. His tactics made all the difference, and his planning and execution was perfect,” Raina added.
Australia’s brilliance in the field provided ample support to the bowlers, with the quick sharp reflexes of fielders stopping plenty of runs and their catching in the outfield was one of the highlights.
“Another big factor was Australia’s fielding; I think they saved 30 to 40 runs. From ball one, they were saving a lot of singles and boundaries. There was Travis’ catch and some excellent work in the deep from David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne,” Raina said.
The six-wicket victory marked Australia’s sixth in the history of the 50-over World Cup, on the other hand, India remained with two World Cups following the team’s successes in 1983 in England and on home soil in 2011.
Raina was still lively by the performance of India and believes that they can make amends at the next edition of the tournament in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia in 2027.
“We will see the Indian team doing well again because they know how to reach the latter stages of tournaments now. It just takes a bit of time to understand how to manage those pressure situations, especially when you’re at home. Sometimes when there’s a lot of pressure you can lose your focus, and I think that’s a lesson they will learn from this,” Raina said.
Misbah and Shoaib hit out at KL Rahul
Former Pakistani skipper Misbah-ul-Haq hit out at Indian wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul following his 66-run knock against Australia in the ODI World Cup 2023 final match on Sunday. While speaking on a Pakistani-based channel, A Sports, Misbah said that Rahul did not trust the other batters in the first inning of the game.
He further added that the 31-year-old was thinking of reaching the 250-run mark for his team and it got difficult. However, the former cricketer also praised the Indian right-handed batter and said that he played very well against spin bowling.
“KL plays spin very well and we have seen it throughout the tournament. He plays well square of the wicket, front of the wicket, and uses his feet really well. But today his approach was that he was waiting. He maybe was not trusting the other batters. He was thinking about getting the team to 250 and it got difficult,” said Misbah.
former Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik also said that KL Rahul was trying to bat through the 50 overs. Speaking on a Pakistani-based channel, A Sports, Malik said that Rahul should have rotated his strike since boundaries weren’t coming.
“KL Rahul was just trying to bat through the 50 overs. He should not have done that and should have tried to play his game. If you’re batting in tough conditions and the boundaries aren’t coming easily, then at least you’ve got to rotate strike. That wasn’t happening, there were a lot of dot balls,” Malik said on A Sports.
The former right-handed batter added that the Indian wicketkeeper-batter should have been more proactive against Australia in the ODI World Cup 2023 final match.
“He has been taking a lot of responsibility when India loses quick wickets upfront. If you will see his innings (against Australia) 66 off 107 balls, it was not a KL Rahul innings. He went into a zone, where he only wanted to play the whole fifty overs. He should have been a little more proactive,” he added.
He explained that the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad had long side boundaries and the Aussie players used it well against the ‘Men in Blue’.
