New Delhi: The Australian cricket team defeated the Indian team by 6 wickets in the finals of the ICC ODI World Cup 2023, to lift their record-extending sixth World Cup title.
Australian skipper Pat Cummins won the toss and to everyone’s surprise opted to bowl first, which was very unusual for the Kangaroos as they preferred to bat first throughout the tournament.
However, the move worked as despite half-centuries from Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, team India only managed to put up a total of 240 after playing 50 overs of their quota.
In reply, Australia with the help of Travis Head’s century and Marnus Labuschange’s not-out half-century, chased down the target with 6 wickets and 42 balls to spare and broke India’s dream to win their first ICC trophy after 10 long years.
Australia wins their 20th World Cup in history (13 in women, 7 in men). pic.twitter.com/MmcKzUWpr8
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) November 19, 2023
While everyone was busy trying to find out what went wrong for team India in the finals, the veteran Indian spinner and member of India’s World Cup squad, Ravichandran Ashwin, found out what Australia did right in the finals.
The surprising decision
Ashwin through his YouTube channel on Thursday, recalled his conversation with Australia’s chairman of selectors, George Bailey, which astounded him.
Ashwin in his video said, “I was checking out if the pitch was disintegrating at the mid-innings and I met George Bailey, the chairman of selectors and asked ‘Why didn’t you guys bat first like you always do after winning the toss?”
How George Bailey (Chief Selector), Pat Cummins and Australia put on a tactical masterclass by assessing the conditions so well and opting to bowl first. The explanation Bailey gave blew @ashwinravi99‘s mind. pic.twitter.com/LwF82LDyiS
— Crikipidea (@crikipidea) November 23, 2023
Bailey’s reply left Ashwin speechless and also implied how important the IPL has become for these foreign players.
To answer Ashwin’s question, George Bailey said, “We have played IPL and bilateral series for a long time now, and in our experience, the red soil disintegrates, but the black soil gets better to bat on under the lights.”
“Dew is not a big impact in red soil pitches, whereas black soil pitches are good turners in the afternoon, but in the night, the pitch solidifies into a paata wicket and plays as though it is made of concrete,” Bailey concluded.
I was left speechless
Ashwin said after hearing the answer he was flabbergasted, by how much these players are studying the features of Indian pitches, and how it might be becoming a problem for India in the upcoming times.
The Chief Selector of Australian Cricket Team during his playing days 😂
What a character George Bailey 🙂#FlashbackFridaypic.twitter.com/dN5KNPipa6
— Cricketopia (@CricketopiaCom) November 24, 2023
Ashwin upon hearing Bailey’s reply said, “I was flabbergasted listening to that, seeing all the experience from IPL and the bilateral series and India becoming a central hub of world cricket. They can read the pitch perfectly.”
This proves how, the players from other cricketing nations are using the T20 leagues and bilateral series at such a large extent, that they are now reading better than even the host nations.
