Team India’s winning streak in their ODI World Cup 2023 campaign ended on a disappointing note after their defeat against Australia in the final on Sunday at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. During their World Cup campaign, India remained unbeaten till the semi-final but their defeat in the final shattered all of their accumulated hopes of lifting the title. Analysing India’s defeat against Australia in the final, former Indian cricketer Suresh Raina felt that Australian skipper Pat Cummins’ captaincy worked in favour of Australia. 

“What swung the game in Australia’s favour was pat Cummins’ captaincy. The way he brought Glenn Maxwell into the attack to get the wicket of Rohit Sharma with a brilliant catch from Travis Head was very smart. Adam Zampa was great too, as was cummins himself in dismissing Virat Kohli. They outplayed India and were very solid in their planning,” Raina wrote in his column for ICC. 

In the World Cup final, Australia’s fielding prowess was too on full display with players leaving no room for Indian batters to steal runs. Raina also remained of the view that Australian players saved around 30 to 40 runs. 

“Another big factor was Australia’s fielding, I think they saved 30 to 40 runs. From ball one, they were saving a lot of singles and boundaries. There was Travis’ catch and some excellent work in the deep from David Warner and Marnus labuschagne.

“I think Cummins showed real temperament in his captaincy. He changed his bowlers knowing he could put pressure on each India batter even though they were all in such good form. His tactics made all the difference, and his planning and execution was perfect,” Raina noted.

Suresh Raina expressed his optimism about India’s successful comeback despite having lost the crucial battle against Australia in the World Cup final.

“We will see the Indian team doing well again because they know how to reach the latter stages of tournament now. It just takes a bit of time to understand how to manage those pressure situations,  especially when you’re at home,” Raina stated.

“Sometimes when there’s a lot of pressure you can lose your focus, and I think that’s a lesson they will learn from this,” he said.