Team India suffered a six-wicket defeat against Australia in the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 as the Pat Cummins-led side continued their dominance in world cricket and won their sixth title. When invited to bat first, India was restricted to a minimum score of 240 runs in the stipulated 50 overs. In reply, Australia easily achieved the target in 43 overs thanks to a brilliant century by Travis Head (137 runs off 120 balls).
After India’s defeat, former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh criticized the pitch used for the final. The former off-spinner said India would have benefited more from a normal flat surface rather than the slow wicket used in the summit clash.
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“I think it was that kind of pitch which was slow. It was drier than a normal pitch. You know, I would love to see a pitch where a lot of scores like 300-plus are made. That kind of pitch like that The pitch would have helped India more, where you know, you bring your opponent into the game,” Harbhajan said on India Today.
The 2011 World Cup winner further argued that a better pitch would have helped the Indian batsmen perform better.
“You know your batsmen were in such great form. They looked great throughout the tournament, and they were fantastic and very proud of them. The way they play their cricket. I think, with a slightly better pitch they got It will help us perform better than what happened,” Harbhajan said.
Indian batsmen failed to score runs on slow wicket
Notably, the Men in Blue lost three wickets inside the first 11 overs, after which, KL Rahul (66 of 107), Suryakumar Yadav (18 of 28) and Ravindra Jadeja (9 of 22) found themselves in the lead. Failed to increase and India had to face defeat. Be satisfied with less than the total score in the first innings.
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Meanwhile, India’s disappointing run in ICC tournaments since 2014 continued as they once again failed to lift the trophy after qualifying for the knockout stage of the tournament. The Men in Blue have qualified for the knockouts nine times out of the last ten ICC events, but are yet to win a single title.
