Team India endured a disappointing six-wicket loss in the final of the 2023 World Cup against Australia on Sunday. After inviting India to bat on a sluggish surface at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Australia produced a fine bowling display to bowl the home team out on 240 in fifty overs. With the conditions more conducive to bat in the second innings, the Aussies survived an early scare – losing three wickets on 47 – to eventually secure a win with seven overs remaining.
Mohammed Shami earned India the opening breakthrough when he dismissed Australia’s star opener David Warner on 7. Jasprit Bumrah, then, picked two quick wickets to put the Aussies under early pressure; and even though the bowling duo continued to beat Travis Head’s edge on a number of occasions, the batter – alongside Marnus Labuschagne – eventually settled onto the crease to take Australia home.
Head smashed a brilliant 137 off 120 balls to take the game away from the Indian team while Labuschagne supported him brilliantly with an unbeaten 55. The arrival of dew further helped the Aussie batters as the conditions grew in favour of the batting side.
Days following the clash, Shami spoke about India’s loss as he arrived in Amroha to spend time with his family. In a media interaction upon his arrival, Shami stated that India lacked runs on the board, which made it difficult for the bowlers to defend the target.
“We didn’t have as many runs. Wish we had 300 runs, then we could have easily defended. But I don’t think it is right to blame any one particular thing. It is important to look at where we stand as a team. It is important to work as a unit. But I’ll say one thing that maybe, we fell short on runs,” Shami said in a video posted by news agency ANI on X (formerly Twitter).
The right-handed bowler enjoyed a stellar World Cup outing, finishing as the edition’s highest wicket-taker (23 dismissals in 7 matches). Interestingly, Shami wasn’t part of the Indian XI in the side’s first four games, and made his way into the team after Hardik Pandya’s injury forced the team management to change the combination.
Shami is among the many players who are rested as India take on Australia in a five-match T20I series, that began on Thursday.
