Everything was favorable to India that day. The crowd, the odds, the undefeated dominant run, and 1.45 billion prayers all went in vain when 11 Kangaroos invaded the pitch a year ago today.
Everyone had predicted India’s win, especially against an opponent that they thrashed on the way to the final. But when the hands were so near to the trophy, the hosts fumbled and tumbled to the canvas, to wet the eyes of thousands in the stadium and a billion outside it.
India Were Fast And Furious But Gased Out Before the Finishing Line
Ten games and ten wins. That was the stats when the Men in Blue marched to the final at the Ahmedabad Stadium a year ago today (19/11/2023). It was rare for a team to do so, and it raised the expectation of the whole country, who were dreaming of a repeat of the 2011 World Cup when India had triumphed under the captaincy of MS Dhoni.
The fact that Australia weren’t having a great run in the World Cup and also had lost to India in the league matches had raised the expectation even higher for the home fans. India were also coming with their best squad, dominating in both the batting and bowling figures coming into the final, with Virat Kohli leading in batting with a massive 765 runs and Mohammed Shami dazzling with his 24 wickets.
Australia, on the other hand, had a troubled start but later made it to the semis by being 3rd on the table with 7 wins and 2 defeats in the league phase.
In the semifinal, India squashed the Kiwis for 70 runs while Australia took over the Proteas by 3 wickets, which paved the way for a classic World Cup final between the two.
One Year Since India Lost the ODI World Cup 2023 Final: What Happened in the Ultimate Match?
Australian skipper Pat Cummins won the toss and decided to bowl on a relatively dry pitch in Ahmedabad. For India, it was Rohit Sharma and Shubhman Gill who came as openers.
Mitchell Starc gave the first knock to India by taking Gill out when the Indian score was just 30 in 4.2 overs. This seemed little effect on the Indian bowlers as Rohit Sharma continued to run a riot over the Aussies bowlers while Virat Kohli settled in slowly. But the skipper fell 5 overs later, scoring a quickfire 47 runs from 31 balls. India were at 76 at that time.
The 3rd wicket came pretty quick as Shreyas Iyer decided to walk back in a hurry, scoring just 4 runs when the score was at 81. Virat and KL Rahul built the score, but the leading runscorer of the tournament fell in front of the wicket in the 28th over, and India were in a decent position, building 148 runs. Virat had 54 runs from 63 balls on his name.
Apart from KL Rahul’s sluggish innings (66/107), none of the other batters who came later performed well, and India limbed to reach 240 runs at the end of their innings, which seemed decent to defend on a pitch like that in Ahmedabad.
Australia started with an early hiccup, losing their first wicket at the start of the second over when Mohammad Shami sent David Warner into the hands of Virat Kohli. Though their innings started worse than India, losing the first 3 wickets when adding just 47 runs, the scene from there took a different turn. Travis Head decided to not bow to the home side and rattled the Indian bowlers to score a spectacular ton (137/120) that sent the crying Ahmedabad stadium into pin-drop silence.
When Head lost his wicket, Australia was just 2 runs away from victory with 7.1 overs and 6 wickets remaining, and the rest was a ducksoup.
It was the second consecutive final loss of India to Australia, with the first one being in the WTC final in 2023. India, though, had their laughter after 7 months when they lifted the T20I World Cup 2024, in which they had defeated Kangaroos in the Super 8 round.
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