[ferrarirules]

I know enough has been said about yesterday's match and various player's performance.

My take - We were coming of a dream run in the tournament, we had decimated every single opposition was it with the bat or the ball. Winning ten matches on a trot is not easy.

Coming to the match,

Toss
It was bad toss to loose but then the Rohit said that they would have loved to bat either ways. May be this was a statement to instill confidence in the team that they can do it batting first as well
Stats - In this world cup, 4 games played on the venue, teams playing second won comfortably thrice. The only game won by team playing first was Australia in Aus Vs Eng. Aus scored 286 in 49.3 overs and they bowled England out. An outlier but England anyways had a poor tournament.

Batting
1. Rohit's hard hitting - We were off to a flyer 80-1 in 9.3 overs. The same dream start that we have had the whole tournament. Rohit played another rash shot which he has done whole tournament and got out. But this was a world cup final, was there a change of temperament needed? - Yes it was.

2. KL and Virat consolidation - They used the same strategy against Australia in India's first world cup match when India was 2 for 3. They consolidated the innings and got India the win. The only difference India was chasing.

3. Batting collapse in final ten overs - India reached 40 overs with a score 197-5 with KL and SKY at the crease. Another 70-80 runs would have taken them to a total of 270-280 (286 was the highest score on the ground for the tournament). KL being a set batsmen and SKY on the crease to support it should have been easily achievable. But they could only manage 40 runs and lost 5 wickets. And think about it none of the 5 wickets were lost with someone playing a big shot and getting caught at the fence. According to me, this is where India lost the match.

Bowling
1. Initial Breakthroughs - Indian bowlers did what they did the whole tournament got early wickets. Australia was 47/3. There was only one other match against England where India defended a low total. The difference England went down to 39/4 and 52/5 then the spinners capitalized. That was an out of form England team. This was defending 240 against a team which found form in the tournament and are masters at winning finals. Australia soaked the pressure and did what India did to them in the first game of the India's world cup campaign
2. Lack of attacking fielding with spinners - There were two nicks which would have been caught by the first slip but there was no attack. You don't defend a small total by protecting boundaries.
3. Not enough bowling options - This is not a big miss as they won 7 matches playing 5 bowlers only. But having a 6th bowler when defending a low total gives you more options. India missed the second all rounder in the form of Hardik Pandya (May be he would have done better than SKY with the bat as well).

Conclusion
Was there a team change needed? - No
You don't change the team for the final match.

Did the bowlers do bad? - No
They were defending a low score.

Was there a change in attitude/approach needed by batsmen? - Yes
That is where India lost the match

[RMN]

The tag line of the tournament make sense now. It just takes one day...

to blame the coach & captain and everything

To all those asking about Dravid - he had way long back itself committed to work only till this WC cause he wants to be closer to family.

Overall, I cant really complain about team decisions. Sky's selection maybe but I felt like he was always out there in an awkward situation. Hence I was hoping they sent him ahead of Rahul in the earlier games when we were in a comfortable situation.

[NPV]

I think what Dravid said yesterday makes a lot of sense and we should stop doing further post mortem on this loss, please!

Key point - let’s move on!

There were a lot of emotions in that dressing room. It was tough to see as a coach, because I know how hard these guys have worked, what they've put in and the sacrifices they've made. That's sport. That happens. And the better team won on the day. I'm sure the sun will come up tomorrow morning. We'll learn from it. We'll reflect and move on, as will everyone else.

[ValarMorghulis]

Australia win the ODI World Cup 2023 defeating India in the finals by 6 wickets.

[harry10]

Originally Posted by kushagra452

Despite the bitter loss yesterday, let us not forget that the BCCI is a ruthless money making machine. The T20s against Australia start in a few days! I hope some sense prevails and the youngsters are given a chance to play in this series. Personally, I will be taking a break from cricket for a while now. The number of games that the Indian cricket team plays is crazy.

I don't see any issue with that. Bcci and CSA have to organize bilaterals like other boards before t20 world cup. Players are welcome to rest or skip whatever. No one forces players to play any series if they want rest or not fit. There are lots of guys who need a break in Indian set up. Perfect opportunity to see them.

Originally Posted by Indraneel Bhat

Sorry to say but I found so many comments in this thread very negative.

Yeah we lost. Yes we are all very disappointed. But this team went 10 games without a defeat in a WC. When have we done that in the recent past? We played a variety of teams in a variety of situations and still came out as winners. Each Team member contributed to this performance. Can we not celebrate that?

Why are we, at the first available instance, ready to throw our boys under the bus? Trolls go haywire targeting not just the players but also their families. And then we blame the "burden of expectations". At a time when we must be holding our team close telling them to forge on ahead, there's a bunch of us being keyboard warriors, kicking our boys when they are down.

I stand with the Boys in Blue. May they forge ahead with positivity. Hopefully the best is yet to come.......

We were table toppers in 2015 and 2019 world cup also if I remember right. Even in Champions trophy 2017 which we lost to Pakistan we were toppers. We have played both WTC finals too by being on top. Topping table or winning 10 games in a row means zilch if you can't perform in the ultimate final which is everything to lift the trophy.

Look at Aussies. Started terrible by losing 2 games. Lifted themselves up and qualified for semis. Then in finals did everything by the book to win it. David Warner alone saved atleast 25-30 runs by his fielding and that Travis head catch was match turning. Here our slip cordon was sleeping when David Warner gave a catch on first ball of the match. Indian team never looked like charged up to win from any situation like they did whole tournament. I don't know why and that's what makes me more angry on their performance.

Also Indian players don't do us favors by playing. They get huge amount of money and fame to play for India. More than anyone else in any other cricket country. If they get the accolades then they will get the blame when they can't bring a single ICC trophy in 10 years. No one is trolling here. People are hurt and they will ask questions for this abysmal performance. And they have to be accountable for not even giving a proper fight in finals. Even SA gave a good fight defending just 212. Here our players just gave up. Beats me why.

[silverado]

It was a superb world cup overall and India should be proud of hosting such a showpiece event so sucessfully. There were many matches in later half where tight contests took place.

Intensity of Aussies in field was the main factor followed by our team losing wickets at regular intervals.

Indians had everything to lose for in this match and they did!
One thing is very clear, next ODI world cup ( if one happens ) would be the one where we will have no expectations from our team.

[Somil07]

I'm usually not into cricket much but got connected emotionally when I saw brilliant performance by team India through this series. Somehow all that emotional attachment is feeling like a baggage because it feels like we didn't put up a good enough fight, if we look at the previous performances in the series. Rohit Sharma's departure in first innings was THE turning point which partly sealed the fate. It immediately put us on a defensive and even then we lost wickets one after another, almost felt like our players got nervous and their performance is getting clouded by fear.
Come second innings and I was just thinking why aren't we taking any wickets, especially given that we didn't give good enough target? Why is australian team able to take risk and score boundaries without any loss while we hardly hit any boundaries in 80% of our innings? I think what took Team India by surprise was lack of homework for this match and loss of confidence mid-way. It was a mind game executed beautifully by the winning team.

[harry10]

This picture says it all.
Such brilliance all around and still falters when it matters most. Has to be a mental issue. Can't be skills. I think bcci needs to invest into a mental conditioning coach or something like that.

Edit- SKY has been named Captain for Australian T20. I hope this time selectors stick him with t20s only where he does well. Hardik is going to miss SA tour as well.

[Rahkehs]

Originally Posted by ValarMorghulis

I don't think the pitch saga was to blame here. Yes, it was a bad pitch but we have won throughout the tournament on all kinds of pitches.
Aus, Pak, NZ, Eng in league was on similar pitches where we won.
SL, SA, NZ(SF) was on fast pitches where we won again.

Vs Aus/Pak/NZ India chased, and I still believe, if Indian team had batted second in the Final, they would have won. Modern day players are just not technically apt to play reverse swing or good spin attack. Rahul & Kohli went into shell once the bowl started to spin and later on reverse.

[PreludeSH]

Originally Posted by harry10

This picture says it all.
Such brilliance all around and still falters when it matters most. Has to be a mental issue. Can't be skills. I think bcci needs to invest into a mental conditioning coach or something like that.

Not sure what the ratio tells. Using percentages, we have 85% vs 79% for Australia. One thing that is so obvious is the way Indian batsmen try to get personal milestones in batting. Somehow they bat for themselves instead of the team. It works most of the time though Jadeja, SKY are all blazing to glory in IPL matches.

Feel bad for Rohit Sharma, he consistently batted so well. Also for our bowlers. Fact that we did not have decent part time bowlers compared to Aussies was a shortcoming.

[Gansan]

The final should have been held at Wankhede or Eden Gardens, not at a new stadium.

[Raghav07]

As sad as losing the finals is, we have to give credit for India in the lead up to the finals. They way Rohit led and attacked, the way Kohli batted , the way Shami made a comeback. Everything was perfect. Except the final.

But you have to give credit to Australia. They bounced back after 2 losses. The Maxwell innings is probably equal to Kapils 175*. And Cummins captaincy is something we should admire. India need study the Aussies on how they excel in big tournaments.

They need a foreign coach again, in my opinion. India flourished under Gary Kirsten. I think we need him again. Or an Aussie coach. Ricky Ponting was offered the coaching post in 2021. I think we need to try again. John Wright, India's first foreign coach, did well in his stint.

The T20I's against the same opposition are coming in 3 days. After this loss, I dont even care if they win all 3 or lose all 3. They need the same Indian fury, along with the intellect, skill and commitment of the Aussies, to win matches. They need to play more ODI's, more Test cricket.

I think the IPL should be stopped for a year. T20 leagues are ruining international cricket, with many players like Trent Boult and Quinton De Kock. both legends, focusing on the money of T20 leagues. This means cricket is now a money game, and no longer a gentleman's game.

Simply, we need a foreign coach again , and more focus to ODI's and Tests to make Indian cricket great again.

[smnrock]

I think this is a very bad pitch to host a big event like this. If we would have got a chance to bowl first, there is a high chance Australia must have bundled under 200. So clearly toss mattered most here and ICC should not allow such luck factors influencing the outcome of the big match like this.

[MahiWay11]

Originally Posted by smnrock

I think this is a very bad pitch to host a big event like this. If we would have got a chance to bowl first, there is a high chance Australia must have bundled under 200. So clearly toss mattered most here and ICC should not allow such luck factors influencing the outcome of the big match like this.

Absolutely, as the pitch report said, black soil which has low bounce, not conducive for big scores.
Killer Instinct in crunch matches, little lacking.
Anyways well played, we were clearly the best team in this tournament.

[Hayek]

Think our team played very well and is the best all round team - but they lack the big match temperament which exceptional leaders like Kapil and Dhoni provide - and which the Australians have in spades.

Australia has qualified for 9 World Cup semi finals, played 8 finals and won 6 of them (having lost only to the all conquering West Indies in 1975 and to Sri Lanka in 1996). India has qualified for 8 World Cup semi finals, lost 4 of them, and lost 2 of the 4 finals they have played.

On the tournament itself, I think it was terribly organised for the fans. The schedule was not out till the last minute, there was no thought for non Indian fans, and even ticket availability for Indian fans was grossly mismanaged with only black marketeers benefiting. I was fortunate enough to get 2 tickets for all Mumbai matches including the India - NZ semis through a friend who is a Club member - but anyone without connected friends faced a nightmare getting in.

Of course, the fantastic cricket that our team played - as well as spirited performances by Afghanistan, Holland, South Africa and of course Australia made it all worthwhile. For me, ODIs are still the best form of cricket. But I do hope we make watching at the stadium more fairly accessible and enjoyable for the fans.