It just wasn’t meant to be! Despite going on a run of 10 wins on the bounce, the Indian team returned empty-handed from the Cricket World Cup 2023 final, losing the summit clash to Australia by 6 wickets. India captain Rohit Sharma gave the team a flying start at the top of the batting order with another quick-fire knock. But, India legend Sunil Gavaskar has questioned his approach, asking if the skipper was being ‘too greedy’, having been dismissed on the final ball of the first powerplay while trying to take on Glenn Maxwell.
For the entire World Cup 2023, Rohit’s approach has been to give India an aggressive start at the top. However, Gavaskar wasn’t entirely pleased seeing the Hitman go ‘gung ho’ in the final over of the first powerplay, especially as he had already hit two boundaries in the same over and Shubman Gill was dismissed not too long before.
“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. 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 obviously trying to capitalise 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?”, Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.
After Rohit’s departure, Virat Kohli continued to rotate strike, scoring a half-century, while orchestrating a valuable partnership with KL Rahul. But, after Kohli was dismissed by Pat Cummins, India’s boundary count slowed down drastically, with the batters struggling to hit even Australia’s part-time bowlers.
“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 India 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,” Gavaskar pointed out.
