On the night of November 19, 2023, Australia’s Travis Head showed great character to score a century in a World Cup final against India at their home which eventually helped his nation win it’s sixth World title in the history of cricket. Australia broke a million hearts of Indian cricket fans who were hoping the Men in Blue will win it’s third World Cup title given the form they were in that tournament. It was a shocking result for Indian fans as the hosts were unbeaten before the final against Australia in the 2023 ODI World Cup.
India’s golden boy, Neeraj Chopra who won the gold medal at Tokyo Olympics was also present at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium that night and he shared his views and experience on watching the World Cup final between Australia and India.
“This was the first time I watched a match fully. When I was on the flight, India had lost three wickets already. Virat (Kohli) bhai and KL Rahul were batting when I reached. There are some technical things that I don’t understand. Batting in the daytime wasn’t very easy. In the evening, I think, batting became easy. But our guys tried. Sometimes, it’s just not our day. But, frankly, everyone had a great tournament. Maybe, somewhere mentally, the Australian team held an edge at the start. When they bowled, I found they had a strong mindset. In the end, they had completely flipped it over. They were confident about their game,” said Neeraj Chopra on India’s loss in the final against Australia to Indian Express.
While the broadcasters showed a host of celebrities from Bollywood and other film industries of the country who attended the game on the big screen at the ground and on TV, Neeraj was not even shown once. The camera at the ground failed to recognise or spot India’s most decorated sportsperson in the last five years.
The 25-year-old has now reacted to the snub by the cameramen at the stadium. In an interview with the Indian Express, Neeraj spoke on how he felt when the likes of Shah Rukh Khan, Ranveer Singh were continuously shown in the big screen and he was not. As expected, Neeraj came up with a very Neeraj-like response, saying that he does think too much about these things. However, Neeraj said, not showing his matches on TV troubles him. (Neeraj Chopra Reacts To Broadcasters Not Showing Him On Big Screen Or TV During World Cup Final, Says ‘I Want Them To…’)
“I want them to show me when I compete. When I participate in the Diamond League they don’t telecast it properly. Woh cheez hai asli (that’s the real deal). At that time, they only show highlights. I went to Ahmedabad just to watch the match and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would have obviously enjoyed it more had India won, but I had a good time in the stands. I never wanted the camera to pan towards me, that thought didn’t even cross my head,” said Neeraj.
Head hit a superb 137 off 120 balls to ease Australian nerves after a top-order wobble before they romped home in a contest that never reached great heights. Australia entered the match as clear underdogs against an all-conquering India side, who had won 10 matches in a row to storm into the final.
And if their brand of fearless cricket was not intimidating enough, Rohit Sharma’s team were also assured of vociferous support from predominantly Indian fans at the world’s largest cricket stadium.
The stars appeared to have aligned for India to win the tournament and end a global title drought stretching back to the 2012 Champions Trophy.
After all, the Australia team under Pat Cummins, who began their campaign with back-to-back defeats, lacked the aura of the Ricky Ponting-led side who had steamrollered India in the 2003 final.
Cummins raised a few eyebrows in his pre-match press conference where he expressed his desire to silence the sea of Indian fans at the colossal Narendra Modi Stadium.
His team mates took on the task on Sunday and deathly silence prevailed at the 132,000 capacity ground for a major part of the match that ended with Australia comfortably prevailing.
Cummins led by example, taking the bold decision to field after winning the toss, which entailed the tricky task of chasing under lights.
India’s batting template in the tournament had skipper Rohit Sharma setting the tone with unbridled aggression at the top and Virat Kohli playing the anchor with others batting around them.
They stuck to the formula in the final but Australia’s immaculate bowling, aided by sharp fielding, frustrated India when it mattered the most.
Head took a stunning catch to dismiss Rohit for 47 and player-of-the-tournament Kohli chopped a delivery onto his stumps to depart after a fluent 54.
KL Rahul made 66 but it was a remarkable job by the Australian bowlers to restrict India to 240 all out in exactly 50 overs.
Australia slumped to 47-3 seven overs into what should have been an easy chase before Head combined in an epic stand of 192 with Marnus Labuschagne to kill off the contest.
Australia’s triumph snapped the trend of a host country winning the title that had held since the 2011 edition and followed their recent victory in the World Test Championship and retaining the Ashes against England. (With Reuters inputs)
