Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Richard Marles, the deputy Prime Minister of Australia handed over the World Cup trophy to Australia skipper Pat Cummins as the fireworks went off capping off the celebrations at the Narendra Modi Stadium with the Kangaroos’ posing with the glittering silverware for a record sixth title.
Former India skipper Virat Kohli was named the Player of the tournament for his incredible batting record of 765 runs from the competition.
Analysing the loss, India skipper Rohit Sharma said, “I mean the result hasn’t gone our way and we know that we were not good enough on the day. But proud of the team. It wasn’t supposed to be. Honestly, 20-30 runs would’ve been good. I thought when KL and Virat were batting, we were looking at 270-280 at that point and we kept losing wickets.”
Rohit credited the way the Australians bounced back after being 47 for 3 at one point to script a memorable victory.
“Australia stitched a big partnership after losing three wickets. With 240 on the board, we wanted early wickets but credit to Travis Head and Marnus. They put us completely out of the game and I thought the wicket got better to bat under lights.”
“I mean we knew under lights, it would be better but don’t want to give that as an excuse. We didn’t bat well enough, but credit to those two guys in the middle for stitching that big partnership,” he added.
Cummins, on his part, said that they saved the best for the last, and admitted that his heart was on his sleeves when the team was struggling at one point during their chase of 241.
“I think we saved our best for the last. A couple of big-match players stepped up and chuffed. Today we thought it was a good night to chase and thought it would be easier to chase. The pitch was slower than I thought and didn’t particularly spin and we bowled tight lines,” he said.
“On a slow wicket with variable bounce, we had a couple of catchers on the leg side and made a couple of decisions. Desperate for sure. The boys were fantastic against South Africa. We have an ageing side but everyone throws themselves around.”
“Chuffed with keeping them to 240 – anything under 300 really. I was one of those blokes with the hearts fluttering but Head takes the game on, Marnus… I think the selectors backed him even when he had a broken hand. It’s a big risk and it paid off. How fun is he to watch,” he added.
Cummins, who led Australia to the World Test championships title earlier in the year, also praised the passion in India for the game.
“It was awesome to play and the passion in India is unrivaled. You just got to go and win a World Cup. You can’t wait for it. It was a shift after two games. The openers were really aggressive and it was a total buy-in from everyone. We will remember this year for a long, long time. This pips it all,” he said before signing off.