Fans and experts talk about how Ahmedabad’s pitch conditions played spoilsport in India’s ODI World Cup Title dream

India suffered a six-wicket defeat in the ODI World Cup 2023 final against Australia as the Kangaroos claimed their sixth World Cup title. Pat Cummins’s men totally dominated the Men in Blue in front of more than 1 lakh Indian fans presented at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, November 19.

Interestingly, the match was played on the same pitch where India had previously defeated Pakistan. This time, however, it turned unexpectedly in Australia‘s favour. In a decisive move, Cummins opted to bowl first after winning the toss, a decision that played a crucial role in shaping the game’s outcome.

Many fans and former cricketers have now talked about how the sub-continental conditions backfired on the Indian team. Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has pointed out a blunder made by hosts as he believes that India didn’t prepare the right pitch for the high-profile clash.

“It was very, very sub-continental conditions today. A wicket preparation that has probably ended up backfiring on India to be totally fair,” Ponting was quoted as saying by Livemint.

Preparing a pitch like this gave Australia a chance: Michael Vaughan

Former England captain Michael Vaughan also talked about the surface and said that the slow pitch gave a chance to the Australian side. He also talked about how Cummins made a statement about silencing the Ahmedabad crowd and how exactly did what he said.

“They’ve clearly got a very clever think tank. I don’t think they are a 320 side, they are a 280 side and preparing a pitch like this gave Australia a chance. They did exactly what Pat Cummins said they would, they’ve silenced the crowd. They’ve done it in great fashion. I don’t know anyone who thought the game would be done in 43 overs with Australia coasting to the target.”