'He could have covered that up.' Ex cricketers left let down as Team India didn't take the chances

Sunday marked the conclusion of the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup at the Narendra Modi Stadium. India was defeated in a riveting match at home by Australia. With Travis Head's 137-run innings and Cummins's leadership, India's decade-long pursuit of the prestigious award came to an end. Australia elected to bowl first after winning the toss and limiting Rohit Sharma's side to 240 runs after they were dismissed in 50 overs. Australia achieved victory for the sixth time in the annals of the ICC One-Day International World Cup with a score of 241/4 in 43 overs.

3 things you need to know

• Australia beat India by 6 wickets with 42 balls left
• India was unbeaten in the tournament till the finals
• Travis Head was named the Player of the Match

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Sunil Gavaskar and Virender Sehgwag believe that Team India didn’t take enough chances

Australia’s choice to bowl first proved wise as they were able to limit India to only 240 runs in total. Australian captain Pat Cummins impressed cricket legends Sunil Gavaskar and Virender Sehwag with some outstanding on-field judgements. Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, on the other hand, came under fire from Gavaskar and Sehwag for failing to take chances against Australia's part-time bowlers.

Shubman Gill was lost by India early in the game, but Rohit Sharma was aggressive in his performance, scoring 47 runs off 31 balls. Regretfully, India lost two more wickets quickly: Rohit was removed by Glenn Maxwell, while Shreyas Iyer was dismissed by Cummins for just four runs.

After that, Kohli and Rahul teamed together and cautiously repelled the well-coordinated Australian attack. In 18.3 overs, they were able to put together a 67-run partnership, with Kohli reaching fifty or more for the fifth time in a row. It was observed, yet, that throughout their collaboration, the two only crossed one boundary.

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What did Sunil Gavaskar say?

Gavaskar expressed his unhappiness, notably with Kohli and Rahul, in a discussion with Star Sports following India's innings, for not capitalizing on the opportunity to attack the part-time bowlers during their partnership. Gavaskar believes that if the duo had concentrated on amassing more singles rather than scoring boundaries, India may have reached 270. Sunil Gavaskar said:

“This was the partnership that steadied the innings. But I feel they allowed the non-regular bowlers to get away with not too many runs. Travis Head bowling two overs for four runs, Mitch Marsh bowling two overs for not too many overs. Those were the overs which I feel they shouldn't be taking too many risks, but not taking too many singles means those 20-30 runs should have come very handy. So we are 241 instead of suppose 265-270. There was always that fifth bowler they could target and there was no rush at that stage because the Marshs and Heads...those were the 10 overs that they should have targeted and that didn't happen,”

What did Virender Sehwag say?

Sehwag, in his Cricbuzz analysis, reiterated these thoughts, pointing out that Kohli and Rahul could have gotten too comfortable with the target of 250. He thought that if they had been more aggressive and gone after more singles throughout their partnership, India's score would have been higher. Sehwag said:

“After two wickets fell, Kohli and Rahul felt that the wicket was slow and that they will play comfortably to get to 250. So they didn't take a single risk, when that was actually the second powerplay where five fielders were inside the circle. So best scenario would have been India scoring at least 4-5 runs an over even without boundaries. I mean one of the players should have taken the chance. Rahul played 107 balls to score 66 runs. Had he stayed till the end, may be he could have covered that up but that delivery from Starc was so good that he couldn't have done anything,”