Despite winning 10 consecutive matches, the Indian cricket team returned empty-handed from the Cricket World Cup 2023 final, suffering a 6-wicket defeat against Australia. Rohit Sharma, the captain of the Indian team, provided a blazing start at the top of the batting order with another quick-fire performance. However, Sunil Gavaskar, a revered Indian cricket legend, has raised concerns about Sharma's approach, questioning whether the skipper's ambition got the better of him when he was dismissed on the final ball of the first powerplay while taking on Glenn Maxwell.

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Throughout the entire World Cup 2023, Sharma's strategy has been to give India an aggressive start at the beginning of the innings. Nevertheless, Gavaskar was not entirely satisfied with Sharma's all-out attack in the final over of the first powerplay, especially considering that he had already scored two boundaries in the same over and Shubman Gill had been dismissed shortly before.

"Travis Head's superlative turning and running back catch dashed India's hopes of getting a 300-plus score. That catch dismissed Rohit Sharma, who once again stormed his way to another quickfire 40-plus. That wicket fell in the final over of the first Powerplay where there are only two fielders allowed outside the 30-metre circle. He had already hit a six and a four in the over and was obviously trying to capitalise on the few deliveries left before the Powerplay finished. Was he being too greedy? Could he not have curbed himself since Shubman Gill had already been dismissed?", Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.

After Rohit's departure, Virat Kohli continued to rotate the strike, scoring a half-century, while forming a crucial partnership with KL Rahul. However, Kohli's dismissal by Pat Cummins resulted in a significant decline in India's boundary count. The batters faced difficulties in even hitting Australia's part-time bowlers, causing a noticeable slowdown in their scoring rate.

"The fifth bowler's quota for Australia was always a bit of a lottery, and this time, it worked as it not only got the crucial wicket of the Indian captain but also made the other India batters play the non-regular bowlers even more carefully, and thereby lose out on perhaps 30 runs at least. Whether those runs would have made the difference is debatable," Gavaskar added.