NEW DELHI: As India faltered at the ‘final’ hurdle succumbing to a heart-wrenching six-wicket defeat against Australia in the World Cup final in Ahmedabad on Sunday, skipper Rohit Sharma admitted that batters couldn’t rise to the occasion and the side was 20-30 runs short.
Aussie bowlers, led by veteran pacer Mitchell Starc, fired in unison dismissing Rohit and his men for a modest 240 at the near full-house Narendra Modi Stadium.
Barring KL Rahul and Virat Kohli fifties and a brisk 47 from skipper Rohit himself, other batters crumbled under pressure in the big summit clash.
“The result has not gone our way. We were not good enough today. We tried everything but it wasn’t supposed to be. 20-30 runs more would have been good, KL and Kohli were stitching a good partnership and we were looking at 270-280 but we kept losing wickets. We didn’t put enough runs on the board,” said Rohit after the match.
In the chase, ton-up Travis Head (137) and an unbeaten 58 Marnus Labuschagne stitched a sensational 192-run stand and Rohit admitted the partnership took the game away from India.
“When you have 240 on the board, you want to take wickets but credit to Head and Labuschagne who stitched together a big partnership and put us completely out of the game. We tried everything we could but I feel the wicket got slightly better to bat under lights. Don’t want to give that as an excuse. We knew under lights it would be slightly better to bat, but don’t want to give that as an excuse. With the seamers upfront, we took those 3 wickets and another wicket there, we could open up the game. Credit to those two guys in the middle for stitching an outstanding partnership,” Rohit added.
Aussie bowlers, led by veteran pacer Mitchell Starc, fired in unison dismissing Rohit and his men for a modest 240 at the near full-house Narendra Modi Stadium.
Barring KL Rahul and Virat Kohli fifties and a brisk 47 from skipper Rohit himself, other batters crumbled under pressure in the big summit clash.
“The result has not gone our way. We were not good enough today. We tried everything but it wasn’t supposed to be. 20-30 runs more would have been good, KL and Kohli were stitching a good partnership and we were looking at 270-280 but we kept losing wickets. We didn’t put enough runs on the board,” said Rohit after the match.
In the chase, ton-up Travis Head (137) and an unbeaten 58 Marnus Labuschagne stitched a sensational 192-run stand and Rohit admitted the partnership took the game away from India.
“When you have 240 on the board, you want to take wickets but credit to Head and Labuschagne who stitched together a big partnership and put us completely out of the game. We tried everything we could but I feel the wicket got slightly better to bat under lights. Don’t want to give that as an excuse. We knew under lights it would be slightly better to bat, but don’t want to give that as an excuse. With the seamers upfront, we took those 3 wickets and another wicket there, we could open up the game. Credit to those two guys in the middle for stitching an outstanding partnership,” Rohit added.
Australia beat India by 6 wickets, win record-extending 6th title | World Cup 2023 Final | INDvsAUS
With the win, Australia also ended India’s unbeaten run in the 2023 edition of the tournament. India’s only defeat in the cricketing extravaganza came in the final against the Aussies.
