On Sunday, November 19, a pitch invader briefly interrupted play during the ongoing 2023 World Cup final between India and Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The event occurred during India’s 14th over, which was delivered by Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa.
A person entered the pitch and approached Virat Kohli while wearing a T-shirt. The shirt had two messages on it: ‘Stop bombing Palestine’ on the front and ‘Free Palestine’ on the back. The person also had a mask and a flag. This incident happened during the ongoing conflict between Palestine and Israel.
After the incident, the officials escorted him away, leading to a brief pause. During this time, Kohli and KL Rahul seized the chance to engage in a conversation.
For the unversed, the two teams are playing in a World Cup final for the second time. Back in 2003, the Ricky Ponting-led Australia beat Sourav Ganguly’s India by 125 runs in the final. The Men in Blue will be keen to avenge the loss.
India reached the final by defeating New Zealand by 70 runs in the first semifinal, while Australia beat South Africa by three wickets in the second semifinal.
The team called the Men in Blue is arriving with a remarkable 10-match winning streak. On the other hand, the side led by Pat Cummins made an impressive comeback by winning eight consecutive games after initially losing their first two matches.
India’s Comeback from Early Shocks in World Cup Final: Kohli and Rahul Shine
After early jolts, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul steadied India’s batting in the 2023 World Cup final on Sunday.
For the uninitiated, the duo will attempt to get India out of a bind (81/3). They were huge versus Australia in their last match in the current event, returning with scores of 85 and 97*. India won by six wickets in the match.
India were 131/3 after 25 overs at the time of writing, with Kohli (48 off 54) and KL Rahul (25 off 54) at the crease.
India skipper Rohit Sharma left after hitting 47 runs off 31 balls, including three maximums and four boundaries. The 36-year-old was bowled out by off-spinner Glenn Maxwell, who grabbed a sensational catch while sprinting backward.
Meanwhile, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins defeated Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer, respectively.