India’s cricket experts are not taking Australia’s World Cup victory well, blaming the loss on factors such as the pitch conditions and the coin toss. Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has been particularly critical, arguing that India was beaten by the conditions and not by the Australian team in World Cup final.
He pointed out that the pitch was “tacky” and “likely to turn from ball one,” which made it difficult for India to bat.
Writing for Hindustan Times, Manjrekar noted, “The pitch was tacky, a bit rough on the top and likely to turn from ball one, so Australia wasn’t really taking a huge risk by going against the cliché of putting runs on the board in the big game.”
He also noted that Australia’s pacers would have benefited from the afternoon’s lateral movement and reverse swing.
“They knew their pacers would get some lateral movement in the afternoon, plus the sandpaper-like top meant that reverse swing could come into play with Mitchell Starc as one of the best exponents of it in the world in their side; also, the slower balls were going to be a great option to go to if nothing else worked.”
Batting first, India were bowled out for 240 runs and Australia successfully chased down the target with 42 balls to spare. Travis Head was Australia’s man of the day who took spectacular and perhaps match changing catch of Rohit Sharma then scored 137 off 120 balls.
Talking about the chasing conditions in the evening, Manjrekar wrote, “If dew comes in later, batting was bound to get easier, the ball wasn’t going to turn as much, plus the slower ball as a lifesaver for the seamer when nothing works was not going to be an option.”
“It was actually a ‘win-win’ scenario for the team bowling first. After that it was all about execution. To put it simply, the 10/10 India was beaten by the conditions first.”
Manjrekar’s comments have been met with criticism on social media, with many people arguing that Australia was simply the better team on the day. Others have argued that India should stop focusing on the pitch conditions and instead focus on improving their own game.
In addition to Manjrekar, Hindustan Times cricket editor Ashish Magotra has also criticized the pitch, saying that it was “loaded the dice and made it a lottery.” He argued that India’s loss at World Cup was due to luck and not to Australia’s superior skill.
Magotra’s comments suggest that India needs to focus on improving its own game and not on blaming external factors for its losses.
