According to former India opener Gautam Gambhir, the Men in Blue failed on the big day again because they lacked bravery against Australia in the 2023 World Cup final. In the summit match, Gautam Gambhir questioned India’s batting strategy, saying they did little to put pressure on Australian bowlers.
On Sunday, November 19, Australia defeated India by six wickets in the 2023 World Cup final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The Aussies sent the Men in Blue into bat on a sticky surface, and they were limited to 240. Travis Head’s scorching century helped Australia win their sixth ODI World Cup.
Gautam Gambhir was questioned about his thoughts on Team India’s batting strategy in the championship match during a conversation with Sportskeeda. He said:
“I have always maintained this – the most courageous team will go on to win the World Cup. I can understand that for some time you want to build a partnership. But 11-40 overs is a very long period of time. India should have accelerated and taken a risk at that stage.
Gautam Gambhir
The former opener continued by saying that, in their attempt to score at a faster rate, he would have been fine with India being bowled out for very little.
“I actually would have liked India going really aggressive with the top six, seven batters. Even if they got all out for 150, I would have been fine. But you scored 240 and thought you can fight. In World Cup finals, you don’t fight – it has to be either this way or that way. That is the approach I would have taken. Either we go 150 all out or 300. That is what India has lacked and this is why India has not gone on to win ICC tournaments.”
Gautam Gambhir
India got off to a scorching start again thanks to Rohit Sharma’s (47 off 31) effort, but the hosts lost steam after losing their captain. KL Rahul struck one four and scored 66 from 107 balls.
“If Virat was in, KL should have gone” – Gautam Gambhir
Gautam Gambhir elaborated on India’s batting performance in the World Cup final, saying that KL Rahul should have gone after the bowling because Virat Kohli was the chosen anchor. He was also dissatisfied with India’s lack of aggressiveness in rotating the strike in the middle overs.
“Probably Rohit should have sent that message before the start of the game that even if I get out, we are going aggressive. Virat’s role is to anchor the innings from one end, but rest all the other batters go hard. If you are able to take five singles in an over, that is also called positive cricket. But, if you are playing 4-5 dot balls in an over, the game is going nowhere.”
“If Virat was in, KL should have gone. He should have said that, I am going to take those risks. We might have got out for 150, but imagine if we were brave and had scored 310, you could have won the World Cup. India were not brave enough, courageous enough and that’s where we lost the finals.”
Gautam Gambhir
In the final, India’s lower order battled against Australia, as the hosts moved from 203/5 to 240 all out.