Head coach Rahul Dravid and representatives from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) met 11 days following India’s agonizing and heartbreaking defeat to Australia in the World Cup final to discuss the team’s performance. Via video conference, India captain Rohit Sharma also attended the meeting. The meeting was held on Thursday in New Delhi. While he was on vacation in London. India had ten straight victories, making them one of the best—if not the best—performing teams in the competition. However, they crumbled in the big game, losing to Australia by six wickets.
Attending the meeting were BCCI secretary Jay Shah, Vice President Rajeev Shukla, treasurer Ashish Shelar. And coach Dravid, who get an extension after his contract expire on November 19, as well as captain Rohit. The board members reportedly questioned Dravid and Rohit about the reasons behind India’s poor performance in the November 19 summit match.
Dravid reportedly blamed the Ahmedabad pitch for India s loss in the World Cup final
Dravid allegedly laid the blame at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium’s field. The pitch did not turn as much as the Indian team management had anticipated. According to the former captain of India. And for good reason, too, as it prevented India from suffocating Australia in the chase.
Interestingly, the final pitch was an old one. The same uniform was worn for the league game against Pakistan. The toss was a key factor in India’s comfortable victory in that match. Similar to India in the finals. Pakistan start the game as the first team and find it difficult to get going in the middle overs. India’s Virat Kohli and KL Rahul failed to establish any momentum in the middle overs, despite captain Rohit’s fast start.
There were two main reasons behind that – the excessively slow nature of the pitch and the impeccable execution of the Australian bowlers.
In an attempt to help the spinners more, the final pitch was given less water, but this ultimately work against India. Particularly in the first half, the pitch became very slow and did not offer much turn. After winning the toss, Australia decide to field first because they anticipate the pitch would get easier under lights, which completely surprised India. That’s precisely what took place. The first innings was a struggle for the Indian batsmen, who stammered their way to 240. In response, Australia rode home on the strength of a fantastic century from Travis Head, despite losing three early wickets.
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