Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir expressed dissatisfaction with India’s performance in the World Cup final, highlighting the need for a more aggressive approach. Despite being tournament favourites, India faced a six-wicket defeat to Australia in the final match.
Gambhir emphasized the importance of taking risks in the middle overs, suggesting that a more boundary-oriented strategy, especially with a batsman like KL Rahul, could have led to a different outcome. India’s lack of aggression, particularly from overs 11 to 40, was a point of contention for Gambhir.
“It’s like a two-sided sword. I’ve always believed that the team with the most courage wins the World Cup. I get that building a partnership takes time, but from the 11th to the 40th over is a really long stretch. Someone should’ve taken that chance,” he said on Sportskeeda.
“I wanted India to go all out with aggression, even if it meant scoring just 150. Defending 240 in a World Cup final isn’t the right approach. It’s either 150 or aiming for 300. India has missed the mark in ICC tournaments by not taking this bold stance. Rohit should have set the tone by urging an aggressive mindset, even if he got out,” he added.
Gambhir highlighted the partnership between Rahul and Virat Kohli, noting that despite Kohli’s anchoring role, other batsmen should have played more aggressively around him.
“Kohli anchored the innings, but everyone else should’ve been more aggressive. KL should’ve taken risks. Even if we scored 150 and got all out, it wouldn’t have hurt. But if we were bold, we could’ve reached 310, becoming world champions. It’s not the 1990s, 240 is not a good score. We needed a score over 300. India lacked bravery,” he concluded.