WTC 2023 Final: 3 major talking points that led to India's loss against Australia

IND vs AUS: Australia beat India to win the World Test Championship 2023 after a dominating performance since the start of the competition on June 7, 2023 at the Kennington Oval, London. Rohit Sharma's team had a decent chance of chasing down the score after being 164 for 3 with Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli at the crease. India had previously lost to New Zealand in the summit clash of the inaugural WTC competition in 2021, marking their second straight defeat in a WTC 2023 Final.

India lost their fourth ICC final after winning the Champions Trophy in England in 2013. India lost to Sri Lanka in the T20 World Cup final in 2014, to Pakistan in the Champions Trophy Final in 2017, and to New Zealand in the WTC 2021 Final prior to this.

Also Read-  'Everyone Blamed Virat Kohli But..': Internet Reacts To India's WTC 2023 Final Loss

Let us Take a look at the reason why India lost the WTC Final 2023

Australia conquer #WTC23! 🇦🇺🏆

A superb bowling display on Day 5 gives them a resounding win in the Final 👏

Scorecard 📝: https://t.co/wJHUyVnX0r pic.twitter.com/mZxnBnwTmA

— ICC (@ICC) June 11, 2023

1. Lack of leadership from Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma has played seven games as the Test captain, scoring 390 runs at an average of 35.45, with just one century. He missed a vital Test match against England because of COVID-19. Rohit's fitness has been doubted, especially considering Kohli's emphasis on the team's fitness levels. While Rohit initially excelled in the white-ball format and revived his Test career as an opener, he still looks like someone who is gradually coming to terms with the Test match captaincy. In the recently concluded WTC 2023 Final, Rohit seemed to have troubles adjusting to the changing playing circumstances in the summit clash, made bad shot selections, and made some tactical goof ups. 

2. Ravichandran Ashwin's non selection

Ravichandran Ashwin's absence in the starting XI has been a significant reason for India's poor performance in IND vs  AUS WTC 2023 Final. The ace bowler is recorded to have taken 474 wickets in 92 matches and has a strike rate of 51.8. Ashwin is ranked first among the Test bowlers. India's decision of having four fast bowlers instead of including one of their best spinners in the world has been heavily debated across the cricketing fraternity. Reports stated that the Kennington Oval's turf was beneficial for the fast bowlers, but the Indian seamers heavily failed after Australia reached 327/3 at the end of Day 1, Travis Head (146*) and Steve Smith (95*) feasted on a lacklustre Indian bowling lineup to put together a massive 251-run unbroken frame for the fourth wicket.

Also Read: WTC Final, IND Vs AUS Day 5 Highlights: Australia Win Historic WTC Title By 209 Runs

3. India's top order failure

India's top-order failure is one of the biggest reasons why they were outplayed by Australia in the WTC 2023 Final. Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli departed way too early than expected at the Oval and left the Indian fans with huge disappointment. As captain Rohit was dismissed for 15 runs, his opening partner Gill was sent back  to the stands after scoring only 13 runs. However, Pujara and Virat Kohli could only manage 14 runs each.  After a great display of batting from the Australian openers, Indian team should have performed better in order to keep themselves alive. The expectations, however, flopped as India lost early wickets in both the innings.

India's cricket team needs to improve their squad and decision making in order to win an ICC trophy. The all-important ODI World Cup isn't far away and the team management will have their eyes set on the biggest prize of the cricketing world.