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On Sunday, November 19, India were at the receiving end of a thumping in the ODI World Cup 2023 final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. They went onto lose the summit clash of the 50-overs format by six wickets, which led to the Australian cricketing team getting their hands on the coveted trophy for a whopping sixth time in history.
Team India huffed and puffed to a below total of 240 all out in their allotted 50 overs. KL Rahul top scored for India with 66 off 107, while Mitchell Starc picked up three wickets for 55 runs in his 10-over spell.
During the run chase, Australia did lose a few early wickets, but Travis Head arguably played the best innings of his career to ensure that his team reached the target with seven overs to spare. He ended up getting 137 off 120, while Jasprit Bumrah had managed to grab a couple of scalps.
In this feature article, SportsTiger looks at five reasons that cost Team India the ODI World Cup 2023 final against Australia.
Getting the worst of the conditions during batting and bowling
The pitch for the ODI World Cup 2023 final was very dry and bare to start with, and it got slower in the afternoon while the Indian batting innings progressed. Although the captain Rohit Sharma provided a fiery start in the first powerplay stage which saw them reach 80/2 in just 10 overs, the rest of batters weren’t able to dictate terms to the Australian bowlers as the ball got softer, and it became harder to hit.
There was a bit of movement for the Indian fast bowlers for the first few overs of the Australian batting innings, which saw them reduce the opposition to 47/3 at one stage. But when the dew started falling at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, the Indian spinners weren’t able to get into the game, while the fast bowlers looked quite ineffective as Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne started to build their partnership.
