India vs Australia Final, World Cup 2023: India's long and frustrating wait for an ICC trophy continues as they suffered a defeat against Australia in the final of the ODI World Cup 2023 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, November 19.

The Indian team was undefeated throughout the tournament, having won all nine league matches convincingly and defeating New Zealand in the semi-final, but couldn't cross the line in the title-decisive clash to give fans and spectators yet another heartbreak.

It was a dominant performance from Pat Cummins' side in all departments as they thrashed the Men in Blue by six wickets, chasing down the target of 241 runs in just 43 overs.

While India missed out on their third World Cup title in their fourth final, the Aussies extended their record tally to six by putting up a show in their eighth final.

India were the favorites heading into the summit clash considering the dominance they showed with both bat and ball throughout the tournament.

 


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However, it was the Australians who read the conditions well and had their plans executed brilliantly.


Let's take a look at the few turning points in the game that helped Australia gain momentum in the all-important final.

 

Losing an important toss

The fortunes weren't in favor of the Indian team even before the action began as India lost the toss in the important title clash. Australia's captain Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to bowl first, asking the hosts to defend the total in tough conditions.

However, Rohit Sharma said that he would have wanted to bat as well but it was not an easy nut to crack while defending a total in Ahmedabad with dew also being a major factor.

Australia were familiar with the nature of the surface and used it brilliantly to restrict India to a low total.

 

Rohit Sharma's dismissal

India didn't have a great start as they lost Shubnma Gill in just the fifth over of the match but skipper Rohit Sharma was looking in great touch as he continued his brilliance by giving yet another fiery start to the innings.

Rohit was paying on 47 runs with four fours and three sixes to his name with Virat Kohli on the other hand as things were looking promising before Glenn Maxwell came to bowl in the 10th over.

Rohit attacked Maxwell and smashed him for a four and a six to put pressure on him but miscued a lofted shot while stepping down the wicket as he skied it.

It looked like the ball would fall a bit short of the fielder just outside the 30-yard circle but Travis Head made good ground and jumped towards the ball to take a blinder and give India a massive blow. This was a huge success for India as what followed in the coming overs turned the match completely.

 

Virat Kohli's dismissal after slow partnership

After Rohit's wicket, Shreyas Iyer also departed quickly which left Virat Kohli at the crease with KL Rahul.

The duo had a job to bail the team out of trouble as they started rebuilding by rotating the strike.

Surprisingly, the game seemed to have started slowing down as brakes were put on the runs and both the batters weren't able to hit boundaries.

They kept struggling in the middle and even found difficulties in getting the gaps for the singles and doubles.

However, they managed to get things going and have planned to take things deep and collect as many runs as possible by attacking in the death overs.

After putting up a slow but promising partnership of 67 runs from the fourth wicket, the crowd was silenced by the dismissal of Virat Kohli off Pat Cummins in the 29th over.

Virat had reached his fifty and was well set to pay yet another big and crucial innings but Cummins had the last laugh against the star batter.

Kohli departed for 54 runs, leaving India's chances to fire in a spot of bother.

 

Struggle for KL Rahula and Suryakumar Yadav

KL Rahul played a fighting innings but he took too many balls in his innings and was dismissed when India needed him to go for the big shots with death overs approaching.

Rahul was understandably left behind in terms of strike rate as India had lost three early wickets but things didn't change for him throughout the innings as he was struggling for not only boundaries but also for singles and doubles.

He managed to reach his 50 but took too many balls. The game took a horrible turn after his dismissal in the 42nd over.

He scored 66 runs in 107 balls and managed to hit just a single boundary as India's chances to reach a challenging total took a massive blow.


Suryakumar Yadav was pushed down the order as Ravindra Jadeja sent up who failed with the bat once again, scoring just nine runs in 22 balls.

Suryakuamar has had a disappointing tournament with the bat and the stage was well set for him to apply the finishing touches and take the team to a promising total.

However, things never looked easy for him in the middle as he was struggling to play his shots as Aussie bowlers gave him no room or pace to fire.

He only managed to score 18 runs in 28 balls with the help of just one four before he was undone by Josh Hazlewood in the 48th over.


Travis Head-Marnus Labuschagne partnership

India had a great start with the ball while defending the 241-run target as they picked up the first three wickets for just 47 runs in 6.6 overs with the likes of David Warner and Steve Smith already back to the pavilion.

Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne joined each other in the middle and kept things a bit calm in the middle.

While Baluschagne was aiming to grab his footing by playing out some balls, Head kept the scoreboard going with his attacking strokeplay.

India had their chances but the luck was on the Aussies' side as the edges were going for boundaries and half chances were falling short of players.

The duo gave no chance to the Indian bowlers and fulfilled the job for their team brilliantly, adding 192 runs for the fourth wicket and taking Australia to the brink of a monumental win.

While Head went on to smash a marvelous hundred, Labuschagne also played a challenging knock and scored his half-century.

Head scored 137 runs in 120 balls on the back of 15 fours and four sixes before his dismissal in the 43rd over whereas Marnus remained unbeaten on 58 runs in 110 balls with the help of four boundaries.


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Apart from these turning points, India also missed out on the trick by bringing Mohammed Siraj to bowl a bit late as they went for Mohammed Shami with the new ball alongside Jasprit Bumrah.

Shami might have given the first breakthrough but struggled a lot with his line and lengths with the new ball, allowing the Aussie batters to free their arms.

Siraj, who could have been more lethal with the new ball was brought on very late and was proved to be totally ineffective in the rest of the match.

Another problem for the Men in Blue was giving too many extra runs. KL Rahul was poor behind the wicket as his miss fields allowed the Aussie batters to rotate the strike and get easy boundaries even on good balls as well.

While defending a low total of 240 runs, 18 extra runs were just too much to help Australia get things going and chase it down easily in the end.