ICC WTC2023 Final - India vs Australia - A Hard Defeat

 

Picture Courtesy: https://twitter.com/BCCI/status/1667860728899067904/photo/1

World Test Championship final between Australia and India

India lost to Australia by 209 runs. Australia won the trophy.

First innings score for Australia: 469, Travis Head 163, Mohammed Siraj 4/108

First innings score for India: 296; Ajinkya Rahane: 89; Pat Cummins: 3/83

Australia's declared second-inning score was 270/8. Alex Carrie, 66 Not Out 3/58 Ravindra Jadeja

Second innings of India: 234 Nathan Lion 4/41, Virat Kohli  49.

Travis Head was named the Man of the Match.

Well fought Team India at World Test Championship! Congratulations team Australia for the victory. #WTC2023Final pic.twitter.com/u1EGdjOfIA

— Shikhar Dhawan (@SDhawan25) June 11, 2023

Australia conquer #WTC23! 🇦🇺🏆

A superb bowling display on Day 5 gives them a resounding win in the Final 👏

Scorecard 📝: https://t.co/wJHUyVnX0r pic.twitter.com/mZxnBnwTmA

— ICC (@ICC) June 11, 2023

After Australia won the World Test Championship championship game by a score of 209 runs, the Indian squad has come under heavy fire.

The team's batsmen were questioned by the former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar on their mediocre performance with their bat. 

On the fourth day, the Indian team had amassed 164 runs on three wickets while chasing Australia's required 444 runs for victory. India added 70 runs on the fifth day but lost seven wickets in the process. Before lunch, the entire team was washed out. On the last day's first session, Australia won the match.

Picture Courtesy: https://twitter.com/ItsHitmanERA/status/1667843625437499393/photo/1

Gavaskar questioned the batting approach and shot choices of Indian batsmen.

Sourav Ganguly,  former captain of the Indian squad, questioned why India's top order failed. He claimed that over the past few years, the average number of top order Indian batters playing outside of their home country has been less than 30.

Rahul Dravid, the team's coach, commented on this by saying, "They are all seasoned players. Their average is not in accordance with their standard.

Dravid added that every team's average batsmen decrease outside the home.

Gavaskar reacted to Coach Dravid's remark mentioning one  can't sweep the issue under a carpet.

We're talking about the Indian squad, not other teams, Gavaskar stated. The Indian team's issue is with their batting.

Rohit Sharma, the captain of India, too acknowledged that his team's batsmen did not perform as expected.

"We did not do well," said Rohit. On Sunday, they played a lot of loose shots in the morning.

Blessed with all the support. We move 🙌 @ChennaiIPL 💛 pic.twitter.com/IRwI0H8G5W

— Ajinkya Rahane (@ajinkyarahane88) April 24, 2023

Among Indian batsmen, Ajinkya Rahane had the best performance. Rahane, who rejoined the Test squad after 19 months, struck 89 in the first innings and 46 in the second.

There were also many final judgments made by the Indian team that were questioned. The choice to bow in order to win the toss and keep R. Ashwin off the team was first questioned.

Rahane persisted in his struggle. It was challenging for the pair as they added 33 runs for the sixth wicket.

46 runs were scored against Rahane by Mitchell Stark. Even opening the account proved impossible for Shardul Thakur.

The whole affair ended after this. Nathan Lion threw him out after 23 runs. Mohammad Siraj was eliminated by Lion, who also tied India's second inning for 234 runs.

The Test Championship final was lost by India for the second time in a row. In the championship game two years ago, New Zealand defeated India.