Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar was disappointed with the way Indian skipper Rohit Sharma threw away his wicket in the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 against Australia in Ahmedabad on November 19.
Rohit gave a flying start to Team India after being asked to bat first, but he failed to capitalize on the great start as he was caught out by Travis Head, off Glenn Maxwell at 47 in the World Cup 2023 final at Narendra Modi Stadium.
Now, after the Men in Blue’s 6-wicket loss to Australia in the final, Gavaskar questioned whether Rohit became too greedy despite knowing that Shubman Gill fell for just 4 runs. The former Indian captain feels the senior opener should have played patiently after Gill’s wicket against Australia.
Sunil Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar: “Travis Head's superlative turning and running back catch dashed India's hopes of getting a 300-plus score. That catch dismissed Rohit Sharma, who once again stormed his way to another quickfire 40-plus.”
He added, “That wicket fell in the final over of the first Powerplay where there are only two fielders allowed outside the 30-metre circle. He had already hit a six and a four in the over and was trying to capitalize on the few deliveries left before the Powerplay finished. Was he being too greedy? Could he not have curbed himself since Shubman Gill had already been dismissed?”
After Rohit's wicket, Virat Kohli continued to rotate the strike and stitched an important partnership with KL Rahul. But once Pat Cummins got rid of Kohli, Indian batters struggled to score against even Australia's part-time bowlers in the summit clash.
Gavaskar signed off by saying, “The fifth bowler's quota for Australia was always a bit of a lottery, and this time, it worked as it not only got the crucial wicket of the Indian captain but also made the other Indian batters play the non-regular bowlers even more carefully, and thereby lose out on perhaps 30 runs at least. Whether those runs would have made the difference is debatable.”
Notably, Australia successfully chased down the target of 241 runs in 43 overs to win the final by 6 wickets and clinched the coveted title for the record sixth time on November 19.
(With Starsports/PTI Inputs)
