India’s captain, Rohit Sharma, graciously acknowledged the team’s shortcomings in the World Cup 2023 final, admitting that their performance fell short of expectations. India’s hopes of securing a third ODI World Cup title were dashed as Australia emerged victorious in Ahmedabad, clinching their sixth title with a six-wicket victory. Sharma, while acknowledging that the pitch improved under the floodlights, refused to use it as an excuse for their defeat.
Taking responsibility for the batting unit’s underwhelming performance, Sharma stated, “The result didn’t go our way, and we recognize that we weren’t good enough on the day. However, I’m proud of the team’s efforts. Honestly, we could have used another 20-30 runs. Our batting simply wasn’t up to par.”
Limited to a paltry 240 runs in the World Cup 2023 final, India’s innings was plagued by early wickets, with the pace attack claiming three quick scalps. However, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne steadied Australia’s chase, forging a 192-run partnership that guided them to victory.
“I do believe the pitch became more conducive to batting under the lights. We were aware of the floodlights, but I won’t use that as an excuse. Nonetheless, credit must be given to Head and Labuschagne for their exceptional partnership that put the Aussies in a commanding position,” Sharma added.
The Indian skipper revealed that the team had initially targeted a total of around 280, buoyed by Virat Kohli and KL Rahul’s fourth-wicket partnership. “When KL and Virat were batting, we were eyeing a score of 270-280, but we kept losing wickets,” he explained.
“Australia formed a solid partnership after losing three early wickets. With a target of 240, we were hoping for quick wickets, but credit to Travis Head and Marnus. They completely took the game away from us,” he concluded.
