India vs Australia: World Cup Final 2023 Review

45 days, 48 matches, 21,207 runs scored, and 690 wickets taken since the World Cup kicked off on the 5th of October. This World Cup may not have lived up to the standards of past editions, but two things remained constant, Australia winning and India choking in the knockouts.

Most of the pre-match talk was about the conditions and the pitch. Many accused the groundsmen of doctoring in favor of India, opting to play on a used pitch (from the India vs Pakistan group stage game) instead of using a fresh one. The pitch was left uncovered for long periods, to aid the spinners, however, it ended up not turning as much as expected.

The toss was always going to be the key for both teams. 3/4 group stage games played at the Narendra Modi Stadium and the last 7 white-ball World Cup finals were won by the chasing side. However, Australia had won 4 games batting first and India’s last 5 games had been won defending a total. Ahmedabad is known for getting easier to bat on as the game goes on but India seemed to think batting first was the better option as Rohit said ‘I would’ve batted first’ at the toss.

India gets an explosive start

India continued their trend of going hard in the powerplay after scoring 687 runs in the first 10 overs in their previous games. Rohit got the team off to a flying start, scoring 47 off 31. He treated Hazlewood like a net bowler, dancing down the track on the second ball of his spell and bashing him through the covers. He followed it up with a hack through the leg side to make his intent clear. He continued to score quickly, climbing into a short one from Hazlewood and clearing the fence, one of only 3 sixes in the innings (the other 2 also coming from Rohit). It wasn’t long before Australia got themselves into the game as Gill tried to pull one from outside but the pace of the pitch caught up with him and he only got it to mid-on. The next 31 balls went India’s way as Kohli and Rohit combined for 46 runs. However, just as the powerplay drew to a close, Rohit tried to go after Maxwell, hitting him for 6 and a 4, but it was one too many as Rohit tried to go again but was denied by an excellent diving catch from Travis Head.

One Way Traffic

4 boundaries in 40 overs. Unheard of, especially from a team averaging 35 boundaries an inning in their previous 10 games. India’s run rate completely plateaued after the powerplay, as they had to wait 97 balls for the first boundary of the middle overs and then a further 75 for the second. Kohli and Rahul stuck around after Shreyas edged off to a top-class ball from Cummins, but once Kohli chopped on off a delivery that climbed on him, the floodgates opened and India couldn't stop the collapse. Jadeja came ahead of Surya, only to play a miserable 9 (22) before he nicked a reverse swinging beauty from Hazlewood. Shami soon followed suit after swinging hard but only finding the edge and Inglis completed his 5th catch. Bumrah got trapped in front off a straight one from Zampa. Surya tried to score but couldn't time it and ended up scoring an anti-climatic 18 (28). Finally, Kuldeep was run out off the last ball trying to scamper a second. India were all out for a miserly 240.

India draws first blood

India came out to defend a low total on a pitch that was getting easier to bat, but if there were two bowlers from the tournament who would be up for the challenge, it would be Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah. At a ground where swing had been minimal, Shami and Bumrah had the ball on a string, moving the ball sideways and beating the bat multiple times. As Shami had done all tournament, he took a wicket in his first over, nicking Warner off to first slip. Bumrah got Marsh caught behind only a few overs later and to top it off, he pinned Smith LBW to give India a glimmer of hope. However, it quickly disappeared…

Head and Labuschagne cruise the chase

Only a few hours earlier, there had been talks of dropping Labuschagne for Stoinis and looking back, the Aussies will be relieved they didn't. Labuschange played the perfect Yin to Travis Head’s Yang as the two motored along throughout the middle overs. Head went after Kuldeep and Jadeja whilst also ticking the seamers along, keeping the scoreboard pressure practically non-existent. Whilst Travis Head will get all the flowers for his performance for years to come, Labuschagne’s innings must not be downplayed as he stuck around, played off the swinging new ball, and soaked up all the pressure, giving Head all the freedom he needed to play his blistering innings of 137 (120), whilst Marnus accumulated 58* (110). Siraj eventually took the wicket of Head with 2 runs to win, allowing Maxwell to come in and finish the job, winning Australia their 6th World Cup title.

What went wrong for India?

The craziest stat to come out of this World Cup is that India has won 24 of their last 28 World Cup matches, 1 of those losses coming against England in 2019. The other 3 have come in 2 semi-finals (2015 and 2019) and this final. One thing has been clear over the past decade and that is that India struggles to win ICC knockout games. These are their performances in ICC competitions since their last trophy in the 2013 Champions Trophy:

• 2014 T20 World Cup — Runners-Up
• 2015 World Cup — Semi-Finalists
• 2016 T20 World Cup — Semi-Finalists
• 2017 Champions Trophy — Runners-Up
• 2019 World Cup — Semi-Finalists
• 2019–21 World Test Championship — Runners-Up
• 2021 T20 World Cup — Group Stages
• 2022 T20 World Cup — Semi-Finalists
• 2021–23 World Test Championship — Runners-Up
• 2023 World Cup — Runners-Up

9/10 knockout exits in the past decade across all 3 formats. The argument could be made that India receives more pressure than any other country but when it happens so many times, the blame must placed internally, so let’s look at what went wrong this time around.

The Pitch

Not much to say about this as regardless of conditions, India should have put up a better showing on the day. Having said that, India knew 2 things coming into the game, the pitch was used, and therefore they knew how it had performed only a month ago. With this knowledge, I wonder whether the selectors considered Ashwin for this game. The 3 options that he could have replaced were Surya, who had scored 88 runs in 6 innings, Kuldeep, who had taken 15 wickets, or Siraj, who had 13 wickets but in the previous game against New Zealand, he had figures of 9–0–78–1. Dropping Surya would have given India concerns over their batting depth but in the end, the 18 runs that Surya provided did not change the game much. Ashwin isn't exactly useless with the bat and with the ball, he would have provided a useful counter to Travis Head’s onslaught.

Batting

The biggest criticism of India in the final was the pacing of the innings. Rohit came out all guns blazing but he should have recognised that he didn’t need to take the extra risk. Kohli and Rahul played a controversial partnership, putting up 67 runs from 109 balls together. Many have accused Rahul of batting too slowly and saying that he could have batted like Labuschagne and Head in terms of rotation with the occasional risk. First of all, no batter in their right mind, especially in the World Cup Final, would intently ruin their team's chances of winning. Australia bowled well to him and the pitch wasn't playing how India had (incorrectly) predicted. On top of that, the comparisons to Head and Labuschagne’s innings are completely unfair as there was much less pressure on them in the middle overs as they knew what they needed to chase and they knew they had the depth down to number 9, whereas India only bats down to 7. India’s spinners and fielding positions were also much more defensive than Australia’s as India struggled to figure out what the right score to make. To add to all of this, it was also much easier for the Aussie batters as the dew made the ball come through much quicker onto the bat.

Bowling/Fielding

Despite India’s flying start with the ball, they were still expensive, conceding 8 boundaries in the powerplay. Shami took a wicket first up but the rest of his spell wasn't as good as he has been. Siraj had opened the bowling in every other game and Shami had been better with a slightly older ball as he was unable to control the swing with the new one. India may have made a mistake by not opening the bowling with Siraj, even with Shami’s early wicket as it meant Siraj had to bowl in the middle overs, coming off the back of his most expensive spell in the competition.

India also lacked aggression in the field and let their heads drop post-powerplay. Whilst most of that came from the docility of the crowd, the India of the Virat Kohli era would never have been that quiet and you just wonder whether that extra energy could have given India a kick to stay in the game in the middle overs.

Player Ratings

Australia

1. David Warner — 5/10 — A World Cup legend signs off. Not his finest innings but he was electric in the field, saving Australia at least 15+ runs.
2. Travis Head — 10/10 — One of the best performances in World Cup final history and don't forget that game-changing catch of Rohit Sharma.
3. Mitch Marsh — 3.5/10 — Two great overs and two great boundaries in the powerplay.
4. Steve Smith — 2/10 — Surprisingly did not review and very lucky that Head played the innings that he did.
5. Marnus Labuschagne — 8.5/10 — Ignored all the noise from the pre-match discussions, played a composed innings and was also vital in the field.
6. Glenn Maxwell — 6/10 — Massive wicket of Rohit Sharma and scored the winning runs.
7. Josh Inglis — 7/10 – Took 5 catches to wrap up a solid campaign with the gloves.
8. Mitchell Starc — 7/10–2 big wickets of Rahul and Gill, as well as the late wicket of Shami.
9. Pat Cummins — 8.5/10 — excellent captaincy, a great decision at the toss, and managed his bowlers/fielders well. Bowled an incredible spell, including the scalps of Kohli and Iyer.
10. Adam Zampa — 6/10 — kept India quiet in the middle overs to finish off an excellent tournament.
11. Josh Hazlewood — 6/10 — took a battering early on from Rohit but pulled it back at the death with the wickets of Jadeja and Surya.

India

1. Rohit Sharma — 5/10 — The only Indian batter who looked comfortable at the crease but should have taken more responsibility. Wasn’t an aggressive enough as captain.
2. Shubman Gill — 1.5/10 — A poor shot, misread the line and the length. A tournament to forget.
3. Virat Kohli — 6.5/10 — Did his best in a fighting knock but a bit of a brain fade for his dismissal.
4. Shreyas Iyer — 2/10 — Unfortunately got a superb delivery early on.
5. KL Rahul — 6/10 — got himself in and took responsibility but then didn't kick on and go big. Not his finest day with the gloves either.
6. Ravindra Jadeja — 4/10 — played an uncomfortable innings and didn't look threatening with the ball.
7. Suryakumar Yadav — 3/10 — A lot of pressure was put on him to save them at the death but still couldn't time the ball at all.
8. Mohammed Shami — 4.5/10 — Bowled a bit too full and got his lines wrong with the swinging new ball.
9. Jasprit Bumrah — 6/10 — An amazing spell, unlucky not to get the wicket of Head in the powerplay.
10. Kuldeep Yadav — 2.5/10 — Bowled way too straight and quickly but showed some heart with the bat.
11. Mohammed Siraj —3/10 — Brought into the attack at the wrong time and did his best with the bat.