India skipper Rohit Sharma admitted that they were not good enough on the day after his team suffered a six-wicket defeat at the hands of Australia in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 final at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Sunday (November 19).
On a slow pitch, Indian batters failed to get going and managed to post only 240/10 in 50 overs after being asked to bat first. KL Rahul (66 off 107) and Virat Kohli (54 off 63) scored steady half-centuries while Rohit played a fiery knock of 31-ball 47 at the top.
In reply, the Aussies rode on Travis Head’s stunning hundred (137 off 120) and Marnus Labuschagne’s unbeaten half-century (58 off 110) to get over the line with 42 deliveries to spare.
Speaking after the game, Rohit rued losing wickets at regular intervals and acknowledged that they were 20-30 runs short.
“The result has not gone our way. We were not good enough today. We tried everything but it wasn't supposed to be. 20-30 runs more would have been good, KL and Kohli were stitching a good partnership and we were looking at 270-280 but we kept losing wickets,” Rohit stated at the post-match presentation.
Defending the total, the Indian pacers bowled exceptionally well with the new ball to reduce Australia to 47/3 in seven overs. However, Head and Labuschagne added 192 runs for the fourth wicket to take the game away from the hosts.
The Indian captain praised Head and Labuschagne for holding their nerves in pressure situation.
“When you have 240 on the board, you want to take wickets but credit to Head and Labuschagne who stitched together a big partnership and put us completely out of the game. We tried everything we could but I feel wicket got slightly better to bat under lights. Don't want to give that as an excuse. We knew under lights it would be slightly better to bat, but don't want to give that as an excuse,” Rohit remarked.
“We didn't put enough runs on the board. With the seamers upfront, we took those 3 wickets and another wicket there, we could open up the game. Credit to those two guys in the middle for stitching an outstanding partnership,” he concluded.
