Skipper Rohit Sharma acknowledged that Team India was not good enough on World Cup 2023 final day as they lost to Australia in Ahmedabad on Sunday. India’s bid for a third ODI WC title did not reach fruition. Australia completed a remarkable comeback in the tournament by beating India by six wickets in Ahmedabad to lift their sixth title. Sharma said that it got better to bat under the lights but he did not want to make that excuse.
Admitting that India’s batting unit did not live up to expectations, Sharma said, “The result hasn’t gone our way and we know that we were not good enough on the day. But I am proud of the team. Honestly, 20-30 runs (more) would’ve been good. We didn’t bat well enough.”
India were bowled out for just 240 runs in the World Cup 2023 final game. The pace attack was able to scalp three early wickets, but Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne took Australia home with a 192-run partnership.
“I thought the wicket got better to bat under lights. I mean we knew it would be under lights, but I don’t want to give that as an excuse. But credit to those two guys (Head and Labuschagne) in the middle for stitching that big partnership for the Aussies,” Sharma added.
The India skipper noted that the team was aiming for a total of around 280 after Virat Kohli and KL Rahul steadied the ship for a fourth-wicket partnership. “I thought when KL and Virat were batting, we were looking at 270-280 at that point but we kept losing wickets,” he said.
“Australia stitched a big partnership after losing three wickets. With 240 on the board, we wanted early wickets but credit to Travis Head and Marnus. They put us completely out of the game,” he added.
(Inputs from PTI)
