As Pat Cummins and his players basked in Australia’s sixth men’s World Cup title – undoubtedly one of their biggest contenders – thousands of Indian fans filled this massive cricket stadium with utter disbelief.
The idea of fulfilling India’s destiny in the home tournament is now over, as they saw a fine team comprising the greatest players of all time like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah fade away at the last minute with 10 consecutive wins to their name. A Blue Mountains boy in an ocean of blue shirts, Cummins had masterminded a truly famous heist.
Relating to: India v Australia: Cricket World Cup final 2023 – live
Even after India stumbled and reached 240 on a brutal, slow pitch, their adoring supporters wished the essentially reactive supporters had immediate reason for hope. In a sudden start to the chase that bore all the hallmarks of India’s journey up to this point, Bumrah and Mohammed Shami caused a fumble that looked set to win the match.
But from 47 for seven in extremely frantic overs (Steve Smith was the last to fall lbw and failed to call the review that would have saved him) the two batsmen in Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne showed the kind of resilience and skill that persisted despite this. Australian cricket history is like words passing through a canary-yellow rock bat.
Head missed the first five matches of the tournament with a broken hand, but Cummins did not bat an eyelid because he knew his value. And the gamble to keep the point open eventually brought the biggest payoff; A masterful 137 from 120 balls – blended with a determined 58 not out from Labuschagne – faltered at the target, four wickets down and seven overs to spare.
While Labuschagne blunted India’s spinners and cut one end, the bushy-moustachioed South Australian southpaw took on a riskier role and smashed 15 fours and four sixes. These included a four four to nod to Shami’s crucial return in the 24th over, before Head sent him back to where he came from towards his 95-ball century.
The header fell twice short of the target but regardless, it provided a well-deserved solo moment in the spotlight; A chance for remaining fans to pay their dues. Kohli graciously rushed to pat himself on the back; Head became the third Australian man to score a century in a World Cup final, after Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting.
Instead, the final blow came from Glenn Maxwell, batting his first ball to the square of Mohammed Siraj after a strong 192-run fourth wicket stand. While Sharma’s men initially stood there somewhat bewildered, he signaled that his teammates were flocking onto the field. Handshakes naturally followed, but this scene wasn’t really in the script.
If Head and Labuschagne were the toast of Australians around the world – sparking a dazzling light show that compounded India’s pain – then Cummins’ fingerprints were all over it.
In a year where he has hoisted the World Test Championship baton and retained the Ashes in England, this achievement – walking into India’s so-called home coronation and grabbing the crown – is surely reaching its peak.
Cummins first raised a few eyebrows when he won the toss after an aerial aerobatic display by the 52nd Squadron of the Indian Air Force and made a two-finger stitch-up gesture for the shot. These thoughts were further enhanced when Maxwell and Head’s scintillating flip catch cut the game short after his rival number Sharma showed off a bit and hit three sixes in a 31-ball 47.
However, Sharma’s early forays had led to an avalanche of Indian runs in the tournament before and the crowd was expecting a repeat. But Cummins held his nerve perfectly. He shrewdly marshaled his sources, noting that at least one of the balls had started to turn over and he put it into the hands of Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. The pair were superb as they shared five wickets, with Cummins taking two wickets for 34.
Among them was one of the numerous expeditions in which the place was transformed into the world’s largest library; Kohli had settled down to make 54 from 63 and heard a back-foot defense ball on his stumps. India’s icon had seen his record-breaking runs in this tournament stalled at 765, taking what felt like an eternity to drag himself through the middle.
He hit 29 overs in what turned out to be a laborious crawl for India; An 80-run powerplay that included 12 boundaries was replaced by a grinding 40-over over that produced just four more. Australia put on a live-wired fielding display once again, with Josh Inglis becoming the first wicketkeeper to claim five catches in a World Cup final and Adam Zampa claiming his 23rd wicket of the campaign to equal Muttiah Muralitharan’s men’s spinner’s record.
India’s struggle, which began after Cummins bowled Shreyas Iyer’s third ball in the 11th over, was summed up by a 107-ball 66 from the usually fluent KL Rahul, who struck just four. A late breakthrough could follow, only for Starc and Hazlewood’s former ball excellence to put things right again and again.
One point on the board and Australia’s past shortcomings against the spin in the subcontinent still gave India an equal chance; even the pendulum was swinging its way as David Warner, Mitch Marsh and Smith quickly evaporated. To sum it up with Smith’s mistake, Australia were all over the shop initially as they tried to break the back of the chase early.
But an India team that considered (but ultimately resisted) drafting in Ravichandran Ashwin for this moonscape surface overnight failed to create another meaningful chance. Instead, Head and Labuschagne went on to triumph in 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2015, calmly building a partnership and a victory that will enter their country’s folklore.
All that was left for India was to collect their second medal and watch as the prime minister, whose name adorns this giant ground in Ahmedabad, handed over the World Cup to the deserving Cummins. At the end of what seemed like a 46-day march for the home team, we were reminded that nothing in sports is predetermined.