With India in with an oustide chance to win before the start of the day's play on Sunday (June 11) at the ICC Men's World Test Championship final, fans were still hopeful of a positive result. Team India needed 280 runs to win on the final day of the summit clash but Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane, two unbeaten batters, were looking in good touch and the target seemed achievable. However, soon after the start of the day's play, Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja departed in the same over which left the Indian fans stunned.
As it turned out, the Indian batting unit lost their way after that as India couldn't even bat out a session on the final day. The innings which resumed on 164/3 was bundled out for 234. After the match, an image has now gone viral on social media which shows Anushka Sharma's stunned expression just after the dismissal of her husaband Virat Kohli. The right-handed batter got out, one shy of a half-century.
Here is the viral image:
Meanwhile, the result implies that India's wait for an ICC title since 2013 continues. The Men in Blue have not been able to clinch a single world title ever since MS Dhoni led them to an ICC Champions Trophy victory in 2017. Meanwhile, this was also India's fourth successive loss in an ICC final after defeats in the 2014 T20 World Cup final, 2017 Champions Trophy final and the 2021 ICC WTC Final.
On the other hand, Australia have become the first team to bag all four ICC titles- the ODI World Cup, T20 World Cup, Champions Trophy and now the WTC final. Australia dominated the majority of the match and set the foundation of their win right in the first innings where they posted 469 after being invited to bat first in overcast conditions in London.
The 285-run partnership between Travis Head (163) and Steve Smith (121) completely put Australia on top in the game. Fittingly, it was Head who was adjudged the Player of the Match.