India may have found the going tough when it mattered the most, but they had been an indomitable force throughout the tournament, as the manner and margin of victories in the last 10 games showed. India shone for most part, but there were those key moments that would stay in our memories forever.
TOI revisits those scenes...
Rahul-Kohli partnership in Chennai: Chasing 200 for victory on a slightly tricky track, India were reduced to 3 for 2 when Kohli and Rahul got together. A loss in that game would have allowed self-doubt to creep in and India earned a stroke of luck when Mitchell Marsh dropped Kohli when the score was 20. After that Kohli and Rahul, who made a superb comeback from an injury in the lead-up to the World Cup, were involved in a 164-run partnership that laid down the marker. They mixed caution with aggression, took on leggie Adam Zampa and ran away with a six-wicket win that could so easily have gone the other way.
Dismantling of Pakistan in Ahmedabad: In World Cups, India have had the upper-hand over Pakistan and it wasn't a surprise that India won. But it was the way the top-order chased down 192 on a track where spinners were getting some help made everyone sit up and take notice. There was absolutely no fear as Rohit Sharma launched into a vicious attack on the Pakistani bowlers making 83 off 63 balls. As India got the runs in just 30.3 overs, all watching teams knew that this home team is a different beast.
Pandya's injury and Shami's inclusion: It was a difficult decision for India to keep Mohammed Shami out of the team in the first four games. But when Hardik Pandya got injured in Game 5, against Bangladesh, India were left with no option but to include Mohammed Shami in the playing XI. The in-form 33-year-old, sitting out till then with a sense of hurt, made an immediate impact after being drafted into the team against New Zealand. In the Dharamshala heights, it was his 5/54 that helped India restrict New Zealand to a manageable 273 after the Kiwis had got a great start. Shami followed it up with a truckload of wickets and became the best bowler of this World Cup by a distance.
Defending 229 in Lucknow: It was the first time in this World Cup that India were batting first and on a difficult pitch Rohit's magnificent 87 helped the Men in Blue reach 229, which is sub-par in modern-day ODI cricket. There was a strong feeling that India would suffer their first loss of the tournament, but the Indian bowlers reacted brilliantly. Bumrah's outstanding opening spell was followed up by Mohammed Shami's 4/22 and England collapsed to a 100-run loss. Rival teams knew that it would be very difficult to challenge India.
1/10:World Cup Final: India vs Australia statistical highlights
Reuters
2/10:Australia
<p>Australia recorded their sixth World Cup win by beating India in the final of the 2023 edition. They have title wins in 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2015. </p>Reuters
3/10:India
<p>India became the third team whose only defeat in a World Cup edition coming in the final (10 wins) after New Zealand in 2015 (8 wins) and England in 1979 (4 wins). </p>Reuters
4/10:Travis Head
<p>Australia's Travis Head became the seventh batsman to score a hundred in a World Cup final and the second player to do so in a run-chase after Aravinda de Silva in 1996. </p>PTI
5/10:Man of the Match
<p>Travis Head became the fourth cricketer to be awarded Player of the Match in semifinal and final of a World Cup after Mohinder Amarnath in 1983, Aravinda de Silva in 1996 and Shane Warne in 1999. </p>Reuters
6/10:Elite club
<p>Travis Head's hundred was also the third by an Australian in a World Cup final after 140 not out by Ricky Ponting in 2003 and Adam Gilchrist's 149 four years later. </p>AP
7/10:Virat Kohli
<p>Virat Kohli's 765 runs is the most for any batter in the history of the World Cup. Kohli scored his runs at a stunning average of 95.62 and strike rate of 90.31 to hit three centuries and two fifties. </p>Reuters
8/10:Mohammed Shami
<p>With 24 wickets, Mohammed Shami finished as the highest wicket-taker in only seven matches despite missing the first four games of the league stage. </p>PTI
9/10:Josh Inglis
<p>Five dismissals by Josh Inglis is the most by a wicketkeeper in a World Cup final. </p>Reuters
10/10:Adam Zampa
<p>Adam Zampa became the second spinner to take 23 wickets in a World Cup edition after M Muralitharan in 2007. </p>Getty ImagesIyer coming good against Lanka: All the components of the Indian machine had fallen into place, barring one. At No. 4, Shreyas Iyer wasn't getting the runs and he was probably one failure away from getting dropped. The right-hander was finding it difficult to deal with the short ball till then, but chose his home ground Wankhede to put all the doubts to rest. Iyer's 82 off 56 balls meant India had absolutely no weaknesses which the opposition could exploit.
1/10:ODI World Cup: Best Playing XI
Getty Images
2/10:Rohit Sharma (Captain and opener)
<p>Rohit Sharma gave blazing starts throughout the tournament for the middle order to flourish. He also leads this side as he has led India from the front taking India to the final, becoming the first Indian captain to score more than 500 runs in a single World Cup edition.</p>Getty Images
3/10:Rachin Ravindra
<p>Rachin Ravindra would be Rohit's batting partner up the order. With 578 runs from 10 matches that included 3 hundreds, Ravindra was one of the biggest reasons that the Kiwis reached the semifinals.</p>Getty Images
4/10:Virat Kohli
<p>Who else at the pivotal No. 3 spot but none other than the great Virat Kohli - the highest run scorer in this World Cup, the first batsman to notch up more than 700 runs in a single World Cup edition, the first batsman to score 50 ODI hundreds.</p>Getty Images
5/10:Daryl Mitchell
<p>Both Daryl Mitchell and Shreyas Iyer scored more than 500 runs with 2 hundreds in the 10 matches (before the final) but Mitchell scored more runs than Iyer who had the advantage of playing at home. </p>Getty Images
6/10:KL Rahul (wicket-keeper)
<p>KL Rahul's only hundred in the tournament came against the Netherlands but his unbeaten 97 was worth its weight in gold as it came against Australia when the team was staring at defeat. </p>Getty Images
7/10:Glenn Maxwell
<p>Glenn Maxwell notched up a 40-ball hundred against Netherlands in Delhi and then smashed the only double ton of the tournament - in Mumbai - when Afghanistan were about to register a huge upset against the five-time champions. </p>Getty Images
8/10:Ravindra Jadeja
<p>With his fine left-arm spin, handy batting abilities and brilliant fielding, Ravindra Jadeja is the No. 7 batter of the side. In the 11 matches, Jadeja took 16 wickets and 7 catches in the tournament.</p>Getty Images
9/10:Adam Zampa
<p>Adam Zampa took 23 wickets in the 11 matches Australia played and is at the second spot in the highest wicket-takers list in the tournament. Zampa's 3 four-wicket hauls ensured that the Aussies reached the final.</p>Getty Images
10/10:Jasprit Bumrah
<p>In India's 11 matches, Jasprit Bumrah took 20 wickets that included one four-wicket haul. Bumrah's early breakthroughs with the new ball or his strikes with the old ball reversing trigger batting collapses in the opposition ranks.</p>Getty ImagesDismissing Kane Williamson in the semis: For the first time after their first game against Australia, there was a sense of doubt creeping in as New Zealand needed 200 off 20 overs on the Wankhede batting paradise. Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell had settled in beautifully and five more overs of that partnership could have spelt doom for India. It was at this point that Shami, coming back for his second spell, broke the 181-run partnership by removing Williamson. The paceman finished off with 7/57 as India marched into the final.
A STAND-OUT MOMENT TO CHERISH
Kohli's 50 ODI century: Breaking Sachin Tendulkar's ODI centuries record in front of the Little Master at the Wankhede, was truly a fairy-tale moment not just for Kohli but for all those who have followed these two Indian greats over the years. Kohli could have got his 49th too in Mumbai earlier against Sri Lanka, but fell short by only 12 runs. He equalled Tendulkar in Kolkata and followed it up with the most crucial century of the World Cup in Mumbai. While it was a personal milestone of massive proportion, the 117 off 113 balls was central to India getting 398 on the board that made the difference in the end.
