India lost the ICC World Cup 2023 final to Australia on November 19 which was played in Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium. Australia outplayed the hosts completely despite them coming into the summit clash with 10 straight wins.
Australia won by 6 wickets in the end, chasing down 240 runs with ease thanks to Travis Head’s century and Marnus Labuschagne’s 58*. Earlier Indian batting faltered despite a flying start of 80/2 in the first 10 overs. Despite the fifties by Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, India could only add 160 runs more in the last 40 overs.
In the aftermath of the final, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and former Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav claimed that had India played the World Cup final outside Gujarat, they would’ve won quite comfortably.
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Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said that India, who lost the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday to Australia, would have won the summit clash had it taken place in Kolkata or Mumbai.
“They are trying to paint the entire country saffron. We are proud of our Indian players, and I believe that we would have won the World Cup if the finals had taken place in Kolkata or Wankhede (in Mumbai). They even tried to saffronise the team by introducing saffron practice jerseys. The players resisted, and as a result, they did not have to wear those jerseys during the matches,” she said while addressing party workers at the Netaji Indoor Stadium.
Continuing her attack, Banerjee said that wherever sinners go, they take along their sins.
“The Indian team played so well that they won all the matches in the World Cup, except the one attended by the sinners,” she said, without naming anyone.
Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had on Tuesday claimed that India would have the 2023 World Cup had the final taken place in Lucknow.
“The match (World Cup 2023 final) that took place in Gujarat, if it had happened in Lucknow, they (team India) would have got the blessings of so many… If the match had happened there (Lucknow), team India would have got the blessings of Lord Vishnu and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and India would have won…,” the SP chief said at a meeting in Etawah.
(PTI inputs)
