India have completed 1 year of their heartbreaking defeat to Australia in the ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023 Final, but the wounds remain active as ever. Deemed as the greatest white-ball side of India, Rohit Sharma’s lived up to their billing and fell short when it mattered the most, as they were handed a 6-wicket hammering on November 19, 2023.
READ HERE | ICC ODI World Cup Final: Pat Cummins & Co. 'Silenced' Ahmedabad ON THIS DAY In 2023
Irrespective of that, India’s performance throughout the tournament was worth a treat to watch before our very eyes. There’s hardly any player that disappointed the Indian Cricket Team (ICT) fans either with bat, or ball.
Let’s have a look at India’s best performing players at ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023:
- Virat Kohli - 765 runs (highest run-getter of the tournament)
- Rohit Sharma - 597 runs
- Shreyas Iyer - 530 runs
- KL Rahul - 452 runs
- Shubman Gill - 354 runs
- Mohammad Shami - 24 wickets (highest wicket-taker of the tournament)
- Jasprit Bumrah - 20 wickets
- Ravindra Jadeja - 16 wickets & 120 runs
- Kuldeep Yadav - 15 wickets
- Mohammad Siraj - 14 wickets
Here's What Went Wrong For The Indian Team In The Final
The curators prepared a sluggish and slow surface for the Final, and toss became a pretty important factor. Pat Cummins won the coin toss and elected to bowl first.
The nature of the pitch at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad changed drastically over the period of three days, as grass was removed and no watering was done over the pitch.
The dryness plan, eventually, backfired, as Indian batters failed to score or survive out there. Rohit Sharma seemed a completely different player out there, but was sent back to pavilion by Travis Head, who took a stunning catch off Glenn Maxwell’s bowling.
Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer failed miserably and all went downhill for the Indian side, as Virat Kohli and KL Rahul played at a very brisk rate, and failed to capitalise on their start, with the former departing for 54, and the latter, departing for 66.
A helpless Suryakumar Yadav could not do much with the tailenders, and India could barely manage a total short of 250-mark.
Non-Introduction Of Mohammad Siraj Inside Powerplay
Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami were on-song in the opening spell, but a timely bowling change would have made things sweeter for the home side, as Travis Head had extreme luck on his side to surive the brutal first 15 overs of Indian bowling.
What followed later was pure mayhem from Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne, as they formed a partnership of 192 runs off 216 balls, and the pair was two runs shy off sealing the win while remaining unbeaten, but Travis Head went for the glory shot and was caught at deep mid wicket region.