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November 19, 2023. A day in Indian cricket history no one wants to look back at. The Indian cricket team, led by Rohit Sharma, played 10 spotless matches to reach the World Cup final. They had beaten everyone – six-time champions Australia, arch-rivals Pakistan and their bogey team in ICC tournaments, New Zealand. They had ticked every box along the way – the bowlers were unstoppable, while Rohit and Virat Kohli, the two stalwarts, had burned up the batting charts en route to playing the perfect World Cup… well, almost the perfect World Cup.
Having picked up 10 wins in a row, an undefeated Indian team ran into Australia in the final, who in a matter of eight hours, left the entire nation crestfallen, heartbroken. With a six-wicket-defeat, India’s hopes of winning the World Cup went up in smokes. It was cruel; it was unfair, but that’s sports for you. The perfect ending is rare.
Pat Cummins, who capped off the perfect year, having won the World Test Championship and retaining the Ashes earlier. Putting a forgettable start behind them, Australia pulled off a… well, Australia. That the win against India came after losing to them in their World Cup opener and a series defeat just before the start of the tournament is what makes the defeat an even bitter pill to swallow. Cummins’ Australia knew they were up against a team that was blowing red-hot but were also aware of the history of India vs Australia matches.
“There was definitely a belief. We did feel 50-50, but they were running hot. They played an amazing tournament but are a side we have beaten before… a lot. They beat us in Round one, but we kind of thought if we have our day and play really well, we’ve got the guys in the team to do it,” Cummins said in a chat with ‘Humans of Bombay’.
Australia, one of the favourites, did not have the greatest of starts to their World Cup 2023 campaign. They lost to India by seven wickets and suffered a defeat at the hands of South Africa. A place in the semi-final looked tough before Australia rose from the ashes. From losing the first two games to winning the next 10, Australia exuded their ruthlessness, culminating into a fifth World Cup title. Cummins admitted that the team was far from its best when the World Cup began but hit their strides before people could point fingers at them.
“It’s a bit funny. Going into the tournament, we hadn’t played much cricket together as an ODI team. There was a lot of experience; a lot of the guys had played together in the T20 World Cup the previous year or Test cricket together, but the ODI team hadn’t really come together until the start of the tournament. We had a few injuries as well. So I think there was always a bit of confidence with the players we had,” mentioned Cummins.
“It was just that actual going out and doing it. Felt like we started off slowly but one person always dragged us out of different games and we just managed to start pulling the winds. And then before you knew it, we were in top form, playing the semi-finals and anything can happen once you make it that far. There was always this confidence and belief and it just kept getting stronger once we got towards the final.”
