Shahid Afridi comments on India’s loss in World Cup 2023 final against Australia

Shahid Afridi gave his opinion on the Indian team losing the final against Australia in the ODI World Cup 2023. India lost the big match against Australia in front of a capacity crowd at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad. The loss of India broke the hearts of the millions of fans. It was a shocking defeat which has not yet been recovered by the Indian players and supporters.

Afridi spoke about the match and felt that India won all the games in the group stage and the semifinal, which made them overconfident. In the process, India dug their own grave and fell into it. Afridi felt that the winning momentum of India was too good, but Australia was better on the given day of the final. When asked about the loss of India, Afridi gave the reasoning from his point of view.

“Jab aap continue game jeete ja rahe ho toh overconfidence bhi zyada ho jati hai. toh woh cheez aapko marwah deti hai (When you have won all the games continuously, the ‘overconfidence’ is too much. So, this could lead to their downfall),” said Afridi. India could not break the partnership between Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne, which was one of the main reasons for the loss.

Shahid Afridi surprised by the lack of support

The criticism of a silent crowd in Ahmedabad for the final of the tournament has been valid. For most of the match, the crowd remained silent. Only during the spell early in Australia’s innings, where Bumrah and Mohammed Shami got the ball to swing, the crowd was actively involved. Barring that, the crowd was stunned by the performance of Australia and failed to appreciate the performances of the individuals.

Afridi commented about the same and felt that he was surprised by the lack of cheers from the crowd. Afridi said that it was odd to see the Indian crowd not reacting to the performances of their players, let alone appreciating the Australian players. Afridi said that it was unexpected from a sports-loving and educated country.