Team India entered the final of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 on the back of 10 successive wins. The Men in Blue defeated all nine opponents comprehensively in the league stage before beating New Zealand in the first semi-final.
However, Rohit Sharma’s men suffered a comprehensive six-defeat in the title clash against Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on November 19.
Three weeks after the heartbreak, India pacer Mohammad Shami said that it was a bad day for the side and luck wasn’t with them.
"Everybody feels pressure. When you are playing for your country, there is a responsibility that you have. Everyone feels pressure, everyone needs to plan and execute. However, we don't show how much pressure we are under. Yes, there are times when players don't perform up to their best and it involves a lot of factors," said Shami while speaking during Agenda Aaj Tak.
"A lot of people were saying that we chose the wrong pitch. A few others said we should have scored more. Yes, a lot of people watch and make these claims. But when we get on the field, we are the ones who are dealing with situations."
"From Day 1, we made it clear that if we win, we win together as a team, if we lose, we lose together as a team."
"When we reached the final, we had one mood in the dressing room: 'We are in this together'. No one will be blamed. We were planning to give our best. You can call it a bad day, the luck was not our side," he added.
Talking about the World Cup 2023 final, India managed to post only 240/10 in 50 overs on a slow surface after being asked to bat first.
While skipper Rohit Sharma played a fiery knock of 31-ball 47 at the top, the hosts lost three wickets for 81 runs in the 11th over. Subsequently, Virat Kohli (54 off 63) and KL Rahul (66 off 107) adopted a consolidation strategy in the middle overs, where India struggled to find the boundary.
In reply, the Aussies lost three wickets with the new ball but the pitch got easier to bat on as the game progressed. With no pressure of required run-rate, the duo of Travis Head (137 off 120) and Marnus Labuschagne (58* off 110) took their time and added 192 runs for the fourth wicket to overhaul the target in 43 overs.
