Team India suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 against Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. India won all ten games ahead of the final.
They even beat Australia during the group stage by six wickets in Chennai. But eventually, it was Australia that won the final and went on to win their sixth World title. India, on the other hand, failed to win yet another ICC title after qualifying for the knockout stage. The strong Indian batting, which was pretty formidable, failed at the biggest game.
India could only manage 240 runs, and a brilliant hundred by Travis Head sealed the deal for Australia. Former South African star Jacques Kallis opened up about India’s defeat and said that luck didn’t favor India in the final against Australia.
VIDEO | "You need a little bit of luck in these tournaments to go your way. You could end up being at the wrong end of the toss or bad end of the conditions, you need little bit of luck as players certainly don't go out there to lose. From that point of view, on day you can get… pic.twitter.com/fRRI9gXjhM
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 6, 2023
In a media interview, Kallis said that India didn’t have luck on their side. The former all-rounder said, “You need a little bit of luck in these tournaments to go your way. You could end up at the wrong end of the toss or the bad end of the conditions; you need a little bit of luck as players certainly don’t go out there to lose.”
It was an unlucky end to a successful tournament for India. In the final, India lost the toss and were put in to bat first. Rohit Sharma gave a good start, but the momentum was lost with a few early wickets. Virat Kohli (54 off 63) and KL Rahul (66 off 107) scored some significant scores, and the whole team got all out for 240.
In reply, Australia made 241/4, with Head scoring 137 off 120 balls. Marnus Labuschagne scored an unbeaten 58, and Australia won by six wickets. After the World Cup, India did beat Australia 4-1 in a T20I series, but it was a bilateral series. Team India will play a multi-format series against South Africa, starting on December 10.
