WC Final: India didn't bat well enough, don't want to make pitch excuse, says Rohit Sharma

A heartbroken Rohit Sharma did not mince words after India lost the World Cup 2023 final as he conceded that his team was not good enough with the bat on the big day against Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. It was a tricky pitch for the final as it looked 'very, very dry' and Pat Cummins put India into bat after winning the toss.

Yes, Rohit Sharma continued to be aggressive, walking the talk, hitting 47 off 31 balls in the big final, once again setting a platform as India raced past 80 in the first powerplay. However, when the pitch got slower and the ball got softer under the baking sun in the afternoon, the scoring rate dipped. India lost Shubman Gill early but Rohit kept the charge going.

India won 10 on the trot and were looking set to make it 11-0 but the wheels came off for the host team under pressure.

Virat Kohli, who had walked in at No. 3, started with a flurry of boundaries but he took a cautious approach after India lost Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer in successive overs. Iyer, who had been India's enforcer in the middle-overs fell for 4 after getting a fine delivery from Pat Cummins, the Australian captain who was terrific on the big night with the ball.

Then came the inexplicable part as Virat Kohli and KL Rahul put on a 67-run partnership in 110 balls without hitting a single boundary. Kohli got out at the wrong time as he made 54 and was not able to kick on and get a big one. Rahul continued but he was not able to find any sort of rhythm, struggling to score boundaries. Rahul could have made an impact had he overcome the slow start and hit a big one, but he managed just 66 off 107 balls with only one boundary.

Suryakumar Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja crumbled under pressure and against the Australian pacers



who were getting the ball to reverse. India manage just 4 boundaries in the last 40 overs, huffing and puffing to 240 in their quota of 50 overs.

"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 Sharma said.

"We knew under lights it would be slightly better to bat, but don't want to give that as an excuse. We didn't put enough runs on the board," he added.

India steamers, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, turned up for the party, picking up 3 early wickets, including that of David Warner, Mitchell Marsh and Steve Smith, leaving Australia reeling at 47 for 3.

The Ahmedabad crowd found its voice but Travis Head made sure he took the game on and silenced the thousands of Indian fans. Head hit a match-winning hundred and Marnus Labuschagne played the perfect partner, hitting 58 off 110 balls.

"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...," he added.

"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," Rohit added, crediting the effort of Labuschagne and Head.

It was India's second defeat in an ICC tournament final this year as they had lost to Australia in the World Test Champioship final earlier in the year. Australia, on the other hand, went on to win their 6th World Cup after a dominant display.