• Source:JND
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Losing in the ODI World Cup final after such an impressive tournament is certainly a hard pill to swallow for the players and the billion supporters of the team. In a tough encounter, Australia crushed India by six wickets to lift their sixth ODI World Cup title at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

In a heartfelt note posted on his X account, legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar congratulated Australia for the title and also credited Men in Blue for their 'sterling' run in the mega event. Tendulkar, who was also present in the stadium for the summit clash, was seen consoling Virat Kohli after the heartbreak defeat against Australia.

"Congratulations to Australia on their sixth World Cup win. On the most important day of the biggest stage, they played better cricket. Hard luck Team India, just one bad day in an otherwise sterling tournament can be heartbreaking," Tendulkar wrote.

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"I can imagine the agony of the players, fans and well-wishers and what they must be going through. Losses are a part of the sport but let us remember that this unit gave their all for us throughout the tournament," he added.

India remained unbeaten in the tournament and headed to the finals with a 10-match winning streak before going down against the Aussies in the pinnacle fixture.

On the other hand, Australia their campaign with a loss against India and South Africa but came back strongly to win nine matches on a trot including the title battle.

In the final, Australia skipper Pat Cummins won the toss and invited India to bat first. Hosts had a bumpy start as they lost Shubman Gill (4), Rohit Sharma (47), and Shreyas Iyer (4) within 11 overs. However, Virat Kohli's 54 and KL Rahul's 66 gave some respite to the side to reach a respectable total of 240 in 50 overs.

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Chasing 241, Australia lost David Warner (7), Mitchell Marsh (15) and Steven Smith (4) inside seven overs but Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne pulled off an astonishing 192-run partnership to steer Australia to a record-extending sixth title.

Head departed after scoring 137 off 120 balls studded with four sixes and 14 fours while Labuschagne remained unbeaten for 58* runs.

Head was awarded the Player of the Match accolade while Virat Kohli was named Player of the Series after finishing the tournament as highest run-getter with 765 runs.