India lost their second consecutive World Test Championship (WTC) Final as Australia beat them by 209 runs in the final of the 2021-23 cycle. After the results, former India batter Gautam Gambhir pointed out a major flaw in Indian Cricket that he believes plays a part in India’s recent struggle in major finals. Gautam Gambhir said on News 18, “Our country is not team obsessed, it’s individual obsessed. We count individuals bigger than our team, other countries like England, Australia, and New Zealand, the team is bigger and not the individual”.
In a nutshell, despite a terrible batting surface, Australia managed 469 runs, largely thanks to excellent hundreds by Travis Head and Steve Smith. After yet another top-order miscue, Australia had a dominating lead after India scored 296 runs in the opening innings. Australia’s second innings was under brief pressure, but they bounced back to give India a target of 444 runs. After losing Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, and Ajinkya Rahane early on Sunday morning, India, who had been 164 for 3 at the time of stumps, crumbled. For Australia, the rest was just formality.
‘We knew it was always hard to come back, but we put up a good show’ – Rohit Sharma
Here’s what Rohit Sharma said in the post-match press conference after losing the WTC 2021-23 Final against Australia: “I thought we started well with winning the toss, putting them to bat in those conditions. We bowled well in the first session and then we let ourselves down with how we bowled,” Rohit Sharma said. “Got to give credit to the Australian batters. Head came in and played really well along with Steven Smith.
“That just took us off guard a little bit. We knew it was always hard to come back, but we put up a good show. We fought till the end. We’ve worked hard for all those four years. Playing two finals is honestly a good achievement for us. But we’d like to go a mile ahead as well. “We would want at least 20-25 days to prepare for Finals like these.
“You can’t take the credit away from what we’ve done in those last two years to come here. .. it was a great effort from the entire unit. Unfortunate that we couldn’t go on and win the final but we’ll keep our heads high and fight. The crowd support has been brilliant. They’ve gotten behind the time. I’d like to thank each one of them. They were cheering for every run and every wicket,” Rohit said.
Here’s how fans reacted:
Once again bodied chokli ??
— Sudhanshu Pandey (@Mrpandey7781) June 11, 2023
Chlo kisi ne toh sach bola?
— Teena? (@oye_jaatni) June 11, 2023
Absolutely and hence Kohli should be removed from team. We shouldn’t go after the big names but after performances.
— Anoop Mishra (@Anupmis25) June 11, 2023
Gambhir mai lakh buraiyaan hai but bnde ne do final nikal ke diye..
— Tushar (@iamtushar7) June 11, 2023
He is jealous because he doesn't have an individual fanbase. Crying everywhere?
— Swathi. (@Nushkie18) June 11, 2023
Bhai abhi bhi motm ke liye ro rahe hai???
— Calma (@Kohlipedia) June 11, 2023
Bhai abhi bhi motm ke liye ro rahe hai???
— Calma (@Kohlipedia) June 11, 2023
Bhai abhi bhi motm ke liye ro rahe hai???
— Calma (@Kohlipedia) June 11, 2023
