Former Indian batting coach Vikram Rathour feels Australia were luckier than them in the ODI World Cup 2023 final and the Pat Cummins-led team also played better cricket than them. India had dominated the whole ODI showpiece but they could not cross the last hurdle against the Aussies.
India was bundled out for 240 runs in the 50 overs after electing to bat first. The hosts got off to a brisk start but they could not get going in the middle overs, finding only four boundaries from 11-40 overs.
On the other hand, Travis Head scored an attacking knock of 137 runs off just 120 balls to help Australia get over the line by six wickets.
Meanwhile, there were reports which claimed that the Ahmedabad pitch was doctored but Rathour denied such claims.
“I’ve heard this story that the pitch was different, which I don’t agree with at all. In the final, the pitch improved as the game progressed; we expected it to get slower, which it didn’t, so why did that happen? Yes, we could have scored more runs. There are so many ifs and buts, but one thing is sure: you need a little luck to win a tournament. And that day, Australia were luckier than us. They played better cricket than us. And that’s the reason they won,” Rathour said in an interaction with Sportstar.
Rathour added that Rahul Dravid is the best coach he has worked with. Under Dravid, India qualified for the 2022 T20 World Cup semifinal, the final of the World Test Championship, and the final of the ODI World Cup 2023. Furthermore, India lifted the T20 World Cup 2024 in Dravid’s coaching stint.
“Rahul is the best coach I’ve worked with. He has a great character and is good at what he does. He talks well, is very thorough, and is disciplined with his coaching. He took over when India was in a transition phase with significant challenges ahead. We were good friends. And we are even better friends now. The expectations were higher when he joined. He was calm and composed through these challenging times,” Rathour said.
Gautam Gambhir has taken over the coaching baton from Rahul Dravid and he will begin his tenure in the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka.
