3 finals, 3 defeats: Why does India KEEP LOSING to Australia in ICC finals?

The Indian cricket team in all formats and genres of the game have always fallen short at the last hurdle against Australia in recent years. Be it the women's cricket team in T20s or ODIs, the Indian Test team, or the Indian men's limited-overs team, the story has always been the same. AUSTRALIA DEFEATS INDIA IN THE FINAL.

Despite the massive amount of talent and resources now available in the country, India have failed to crack the mystery of Australia in ICC tournaments. The recent addition to India's Australia voodoo in ICC finals was the Under-19 team led by Uday Saharan. Undefeated throughout the U19 World Cup, India looked on course to retain the title of being the best young cricket team in the world. But they were again undone by the Australians. India failed to chase down a target of 254 runs in the U19 WC final at Sahara Park Willowmoore Cricket Stadium in Benoni, South Africa.

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Australia defeat India in ICC finals: A recurring theme of 2023/24 in world cricket

This wasn't the first time India lost to Australia in the final of an ICC tournament. Ironically the same scenes have played thrice in the last 1 year. It started with the World Test Championship final where Australia defeated India easily in the final despite the Indian team being the best Test team in the world for the past 2 years. Now, Rohit Sharma-led India had the chance to take revenge after a stupendous ODI World Cup campaign where they steamrolled all teams including Australia en route to final. However, the story remained the same as Australia again outthought, outmaneuvered and outplayed India in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium. 

The defeat to Australia in the ODI WC final will live in the memory of the Indian cricket fans and players for a long time. 

Again, India got a chance to at least extract some revenge from the Aussies in the U19 World Cup final. But it just seems the Yellow colour is just ruling cricket at the moment (i.e Chennai Super Kings). Indian U19 cricket also received the same fate as the senior team in the final as they came up short against the Australian team. Even in 2020, the women's cricket team were thrashed by Australia in the final of the T20 World Cup at MCG. 

Last year, Indian women's cricket team under the leadership of Harmanpreet Kaur were set to end Australia's hold over them in ICC tournaments. They looked on course to defeat Australia in the semis of the T20 WC with 39 runs needed off 33 balls with 6 wickets in hand. But calamity struck again as Harmanpreet got out in a weird manner with India again falling short. 

The question of India's hapless performance against Australia in ICC finals has now become a recurring trend which has even amazed the Indian cricket fans. Here are some reactions to India's loss to Australia in the Under 19 World Cup:-

Why does India fail to pass the Australia hurdle in the ICC finals?

While India have been one of the most consistent teams in world cricket in the past decade but falling short in finals and semis have become an albatross around the neck for the cricketers. It feels Australians despite a mammoth amount of success in cricket still have more hunger and desire to win tournaments. Their performance in the ODI World Cup final where there fielding won the match shows the willingness to do anything to win. 

Indian cricketers have shown a tendency to let the magnitude of the situation get to their head as they have performed timidly in crucial stages. Team India despite being the best batting side in ODI WC played with a lot of caution in the final (i.e KL Rahul's 107 ball 66) and it has cost them big time. 

Another important point to be noted would be the strategy before the final. In both the WTC final and the ODI WC final, Australia have got their strategy spot on with their selections, analyses of the pitch and their game plan. On the other hand, India got it wrong (World No.1 Test bowler Ashwin not playing in the WTC final or Suryakumar Yadav playing the final despite poor performance in ODI cricket). 

Luck has also played a part. India needed to win the toss. They lost the toss. India needed Kohli to stay at the crease. Kohli fell victim to an inside edge. Rohit Sharma looked spectacular in the ODI WC final. Travis Head takes an unbelievable catch to dismiss him. The list goes on and on. Head did not look comfortable in the ODI WC final but somehow managed to survive. Then he goes on to score 137 runs in the final. In the T20 WC in Jan 2023, Harmanpreet got run out in the most bizarre way and it led to India losing the semis. 

Can India end the Australian voodoo?

Indian cricket team has no doubt performed splendidly in ICC tournaments in the past 5-8 years but the inability to win the grand prize has now become an obvious issue that needs to be resolved. Coming up short against Australia in ICC finals has certainly enraged the fans but it just seems to be a matter of time before the luck changes in India's favour. India is displaying good cricket but just needs a fearless approach to tackle the Australians or even England in crucial stages. They again have the chance to finally end their trophy drought with the men's T20 World Cup 2024 coming up in June. Will they be able to go past Australia in the knockout stages? Remains to be seen. But if they do, it seems the trophy might finally come to India.