First of all, let me admit that I am also one of the disappointed Indians amongst others who felt dejected on the eve of 19th November 2023. We were so near yet so far from the beautiful cup. I felt very bad for the captain of our team, Rohit for more than one reason. I will come back to it but first, let’s talk about the final and the tournament.
So, talking about the finals played at Narendra
Modi Stadium in the Sardar Sports Complex. The toss was a very important feature
of this game, and the Australian captain won the toss. Surprisingly he elected
to bowl first, he took the risk. When Rohit was asked by Ravi Shastri about
batting first, he said “He would have batted first anyway !!!”. So why was that
a risk? It was the final of ICC WC and
the pitch looked slower. It was presumed that with time the pitch may get slower
and if there is no dew in the evening, the pitch would be helping the spinners
like anything. However, Cummins wanted to exploit the early swing in the pitch.
The fielding, the bowling line and length and their plans for every Indian
batsman were very well executed. The risk Cummins took paid off very well and
they could restrict India to a total of 240. Looking at the formidable bowling
attack of India many (including me) thought that it would be a comfortable win
for India, and they would be able to restrict Aussies below 200. The start of
the second innings was also like that and the Aussies were 47/3. But then it was
Travis Head who had other plans and took the risk of taking on the bowlers. He
showed aggression and started dealing with boundaries. His risk also paid off.
But not every time we take a risk it will fetch you desired results. For the
same match, if I talk Rohit played a superb knock of 47. He also took the risk
of going after Maxwell but to the disappointment of all the Indians he was
caught brilliantly by Head in the covers. The risk did not pay off. The other
person who is under scanner for Indian Innings is K L Rahul. He also took a risk!!!
The risk of playing slow and trying to stay at the crease till the end. While
the wickets were flowing from the other end, he had little chance of scoring at
a faster pace. (Rotating the strike was an option and can be debated separately).
However, just when Rahul thought it was time to go after the bowlers, he got
out by a beauty from Starc. Again, the risk led to the downfall. His final figures
and Indian total would have been very different if he could have managed to
stay for a few more overs. (If we remember his innings against New Zealand, he was
not even run a ball till the 10th ball and by the time he finished
his innings of 19 balls he was having a strike rate of 200). All in all, it was a great performance by
Team Aussies, and they went on to win the cup.
Coming to the tournament and journey of the
Indian team, everyone would surely agree that this has been the best tournament
for our team after 2011. Maybe if I would say we performed better than 2011 then
also it may not be an overstatement. However, the outcome is not as per our
expectations. The team management was very clear about the roles of individual
players. Coming back to Rohit, he selflessly played his part on the top of the
order. He spared no one and destroyed the opposition by his sheer timing and
power. The risk of playing fast paid off for Team India and we could put up a wonderful
show during this championship. I wanted Rohit to win this edition because he
missed out in 2011, in 2019 he single-handedly took all the pressure of making
rungs and we fell short in the semis. This time his role was different, and he did
that exceptionally well. The team also played as one unit this time. All the players
like Kohli, Jadeja, Rahul, Shami, Gill, Bumrah and Iyer did their best. Even we
could see Ashwin and Kishan also supporting the team from outside the boundary
ropes. The biggest achievement of the team is that after the loss in the final,
the Indian cricket fans are standing behind the team. There are very rare
instances of trolling or derogatory remarks about any team member or the team management.
I see this for the first time in my life as an Indian fan. Else one bad game
and the emotions change. People are disappointed, angry and down but are not blaming
the team for the loss. I think that’s the biggest achievement for this team. Yes, certainly the 2023 ICC Men’s WC champions
would be Aussies, but this team will be remembered for its performance and the
way they have taken their chances during the tournament. Rohit and the team have
all the right to feel dejected as they gave their best to get the cup but
certainly, they must hold their head high because they have given their best.
They followed the theory of “Risk hai to Ishq Hai” and it paid off 10 on 11.
