Image Credit- Getty
The Ahmedabad audience was thrilled on Sunday night at
the Narendra Modi Stadium thanks to Mohammed Shami’s Stuart Broad-like plan
against David Warner, Jasprit Bumrah’s short-ball battle against Mitchell
Marsh, and Steve Smith’s brain-fade moment with the DRS. India’s target of 241
was never going to be sufficient, but when Australia faltered to 3 down for 47,
there was hope.
However, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne defeated
Shami and Bumrah with incredible tenacity, once again hustling the home
audience as they orchestrated a game-winning 192-run stand that broke the
hearts of a billion Indians.
India entered the final as the clear favourite, and
for good reason. But in the game that mattered most, India lost to superb
captaincy from Pat Cummins and Head’s career-high 137, leaving the home team in
complete disarray.
KL Rahul was on his haunches, while Mohammed Siraj had
tears streaming down his cheek. As he left the pitch, Captain Rohit Sharma did
his best not to cry, but his eyes eventually gave up. Virat Kohli used his cap
as assistance. He refused to allow anyone to see.
Speaking to the media after the six-wicket loss in the
final, India head coach Rahul Dravid admitted that the dressing room was an
emotional wreck given the months of hard work they have put forth to get to
this position of standing so close to breaking the nation’s 10-year drought of
an ICC trophy.
“Yeah, of course, he’s (Rohit Sharma) disappointed, as
are many boys in the dressing room. It wasn’t, yeah, there were a lot of
emotions in that dressing room. It was tough to see as a coach, because I know
how hard these guys have worked, what they’ve put in, the sacrifices they’ve
made. So, it’s tough. I mean, it’s tough to see that as a coach, because you
get to know these boys personally.
“That happens. It can happen. And the better team won
on the day. And I’m sure that the sun will come up tomorrow morning. We’ll
learn from it. We’ll reflect. And we’ll move on, as will everyone else. I mean,
that’s what you do as sportsmen. You have some great highs in sport, and you
have some lows in sport. And you keep moving on. You don’t stop. Because if you
don’t put yourself on the line, you don’t put yourself in games like these, you
don’t experience the great highs. And neither do you experience the great lows.
And if you don’t do that, you don’t learn,” he said.