India squandered yet another chance to get their hands on the coveted ICC trophy as Australia bulldozed Rohit Sharma's brigade by 209 runs to lift the World Test Championship's (WTC) title at the Kennington Oval on Sunday (June 11).
Australia set a colossal target of 444 runs for India to chase on Saturday (June 10). India's top-order once again failed to score big which left India reeling at 93/3 and it was all upto Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane then. The duo stitched a crucial partnership between them and as after the close of Day 4's play India needed just 280 runs to win the match with seven wickets in hand.
But on Day 5, things panned out differently and everything went haywire for India as Scott Boland got the prized wicket of Kohli on 49 and struck again to dismiss Ravindra Jadeja on duck in the same over. It was all upto Ajinkya Rahane, who rescued India from precarious position and took them to a respectably total. But even Rahane couldn't save India from succumbing to Australia as he too fell in the 57th over after scoring 46 off 108. With Rahane's dismissal it was all over for India as Australian bowlers took no time to bundle out Rohit's men for a paltry 234 and clinch their maiden WTC title.
Dravid gutted after India's defeat
Meanwhile, India head coach Rahul Dravid rued India's hammering at the hands of Australia in the WTC 2023 final and said that one shouldn't make excuses for such losses.
After the conclusion of the WTC final, Dravid said,"It was obviously difficult (the target). There's always a hope no matter how far we're behind. Many Tests over the last 2 years where we've fought hard from difficult situation. Needed a big partnership, we had the big players for it, but they had the upper hand. This can happen. It wasn't a 469 pitch. Gave away too many in the last session (on Day 1). We knew what lines and lengths to bowl. Our lengths weren't bad but we probably bowled too wide. Gave room to Head. Some of the shots we played, maybe we could've been more careful."
“There was a lot of grass on the wicket, and conditions were cloudy (decision to bowl?). We've seen in England batting gets easier. There wasn't much help on Day 4 or 5 if you saw. We got them on 70/3, but then let it slip away. Even the last time we played at Edgbaston, pitch got easier to bat. 300-plus was chased. Our top five are all very experienced (batting not performing?). By their own high standards. These same players have won in Australia, in England. This is not upto their high standards. Some of the wickets have been quite challenging. This was a good pitch I'll admit,” Dravid added.
"But some of the other places it's been tough. Even in India pitches have been tough. Taking this into account, averages have dropped across the board, not just for us. Nobody wants wickets to turn from the first ball. But when you are playing for points, in situations like that, you have to take risks. And we aren't the only ones taking risks. Look at Australia, the pitches there. Sometimes the pressure is on you to get those points in every game. It is a risk we have to take. We are getting close. We're getting to semis, to final. Just that we haven't played the best cricket on the day. No one wants it more than the players. Can't fault their efforts. Just haven't played our best cricket on the occasion. Never going to be happy with the prep as a coach. But that's the reality we are faced with. We have to make do with what we can. Don't think we should make excuses," former India skipper concluded.
Australia script history
Notably, Australia became the first men’s team to win all major ICC titles as they have earlier clinched the ODI World Cup in 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2015. They also grabbed their hands on the ICC Champions Trophy in 2006 and 2009 respectively. Australia also ended their T20 World Cup title drought in 2021 when they defeated New Zealand under Aaron Finch's leadership.
On the other hand, India faltered yet again in the ICC final as they are still in a quest to win an ICC trophy after Champions Trophy in 2013.
MORE ON SPORTS TAK:
'Pitch behaved well but we didn't capitalise': Rohit Sharma rues bowling and batting collapses as India succumb to Australia in WTC final
'Not taking the brave way to start with actually caused all problems': Mohammad Hafeez slams Rohit Sharma's captaincy after WTC final loss
