In the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 final, the Indian cricket team suffered a heart-breaking loss by six wickets against Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on November 19 last year. With this epic result, Australia earned its sixth ODI World Cup title, their first one in eight years, which came at home. India was the heavy favorite to claim the World Cup trophy after winning 10 straight matches in the lead up to the final, but Australia ended up halting their winning journey. Just a year later, Sportstiger relives the five reasons that caused the Indian cricket team to lose the 2023 ODI World Cup final.
Five reasons why India lost to Australia in the CWC 2023 final
Losing the toss
As Australia won the toss and chose to bowl first, the Indian cricket team was put in a difficult position because the pictch improved for batting under floodlights,, which definitely worked against them in the larger scheme of things. After India meandered their way to 240 all out in their 50 overs, Australia survived the initial burst from their fast bowlers before Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne stitched together a match-defining partnership, to help the visitors get over the finishing line.
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Middle order struggles
India's middle order unravelled in the face of some exceptional bowling from the Australians as crucial players like Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, and Suryakumar Yadav failed to make their mark with the bat. While Iyer and Jadeja were dismissed for single digit scores, Yadav got 18 runs, but he used too many deliveries to score in the back half of the Indian innings.
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India's low boundary count
Rohit Sharma went after the Australian pacers with two new balls from each end in the power play stage, and it paid off to some extent. Virat Kohli struck three consecutive boundaries from Mitchell Starc at the start of the seventh over, appeared to be ominous for yet another big innings in the ODI World Cup before the pitch became difficult to bat as the afternoon progressed, which led to Indian batters hitting only a handful of boundaries in the middle overs, reaching a total of 13 fours and three maximumsl across 50 overs.
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Australian bowlers' dominance
The dominance of Australian bowlers in the ODI World Cup 2023 final was the deciding factor of the contest at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad with the pitch helping them as the Indian innings progressed. Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, captain Pat Cummins, and Adam Zampa were very difficult for Indian batters to handle, sharing eight wickets among themselves, to bundle them out for a below par total of 240 runs.
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Travis Head's hundred
Travis Head was seemingly cluless against Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami in the early stages of the Australian run chase, but somehow he found a way to survive the tough period before counterattacking against the other Indian bowlers. He got 137 runs in 120 balls, which included 15 fours and four maximums, to play a key role in Australia's sixth ODI World Cup title win.
