After India’s humiliating loss to Australia in the final of their home World Cup, which continued a drought in international competitions, AHMEDABAD-Cricket-obsessed India was left searching for solutions on Monday.
In Ahmedabad, a well-liked India team led by skipper Rohit Sharma entered Sunday’s final undefeated and favorites to win the one-day championship.
However, Pat Cummins ‘ Australia outplayed them, resulting in a six-wicket loss that left players, fans, and pundits feeling unsatisfied.
Indian sports journalist R. Kaushik told AFP on Monday that they have n’t won a world championship in more than ten years.
There is a pattern in the semifinal losses, so perhaps the planning is flawed, he continued.
” Yes, they freeze on the big stage,” or” On that day they were not good enough,” are two possible interpretations of that. It’s difficult to say, though, that they mentally freeze.
For India’s hundreds of millions of ardent supporters, the record is painful to read.
With the 2013 Champions Trophy, they last won the world championship ten years ago.
Following their defeat in the World Test Championship decider in June, India lost to the Australians on Sunday for the second time in five months.
In 1983 and 2011, India won the one-day World Cup, but in 2015 and 2019, it lost the semifinals.
As he trudged out of the largest cricket stadium in the world, fan Abir Saini, who was sporting a Virat Kohli Indian jersey, yelled,” India are the real chokers, they are now.”
They perform admirably but falter at the finish line.
“CAN’T PIN IT DOWN.”
After the hosts stormed into the final with 10 straight victories in the lead-up matches, fans began to anticipate an Indian victory.
However, Australia triumphed, taking home a record-breaking sixth World Cup crown thanks to Travis Head’s sparkling 137.
Rahul Dravid, the coach of India, seemed as perplexed by his team’s inability to cross the line as anyone else.
Dravid, who was chosen as the coach in 2021 up until this year’s World Cup, told reporters,” I mean, I guess I would say that if I knew the answer.”
Regarding India’s string of near-misses, he said,” I just think we have n’t played really well on the day.”
We did n’t bat well enough on Sunday, the former captain continued, adding that” there’s not one particular reason you can pin it down to.”
The Indian media made an effort to be positive.
Champions, nonetheless, the Hindustan Times headlined.
However, it pointed out that there were some “harsh lessons,” the most notable of which was the batting department’s lack of depth.
The Times of India emphasized several noteworthy events during the six-week tournament, including an emphatic victory over Pakistan, saying,” Do n’t despair, let’s celebrate this India team.”
Australia, which has won six of the eight ODI World Cup finals it has competed in, has a much better record than India when it matters most.
Senior editor at ESPNcricinfo Osman Samiuddin claimed that Australia had consistently fallen short of what he considered to be India’s best-ever one-day team.
But he singled out Australia’s quick bowlers, fielding, captain Cummins, and—most importantly—their winning mindset for praise.
He claimed that Australia was the reason they won the World Cup, adding that their most recent success seemed inevitable.