Veteran Australian opener David Warner has opened up about Australia’s brave decision to bowl first on the marquee final against the mighty Indian team, despite the stats favouring the first batting at the Narendra Modi Stadium. The Men in Blue outplayed their opponents before the grand final but fell short of the strategies to the six-time champions.
While India captain Rohit Sharma stated at the toss that losing didn’t matter, Australia winning the toss and opting to chase has since been cited as one of the factors that contributed to their success. Pat Cummins led side outplayed them with both bat and ball, to win their Sixth ODI World Cup title.
Speaking on Ab de Villiers YouTube Channel, David Warner has now revealed that Australia considered batting first if they won the toss the night before the final, but altered their minds on the day itself after discussing them to back themselves to restrict the Indian team and chase down the total later.
“They were discussing it the night before for a good hour and a half or two hours about what to do. All the stats coming through was saying, bat first and put runs on the board. But for once, when we got all got asked that question, I think a majority of us said let’s just chase. If we bowl well and understand the conditions like that, we can then chase and then anchor,” David Warner said.
Several experts and fans have praised Pat Cummins for his outstanding captaincy throughout the ODI World Cup, particularly in the marquee final. From bowling first to rotating the bowlers and constructing the ideal fields, the Australian captain was spot on. His aggressive play helped the Australian team to reduce the fearsome Indian batting lineup to 240 runs.
Pat Cummins Has Been So Calm The Whole Time – David Warner
David Warner hailed Pat Cummins for leading the team exceptionally well through the competition, despite being criticized for being more defensive against England in the Ashes series 2023, and praised him for planting concerns in the minds of the Indian batsmen with his tactics in the final.
“He has been so calm the whole time. He was criticized in England for his fielding placements, being defensive, and all that. Here as well, he cops it again for the slow start. It’s not fair. I get that as a captain he is leading the ship but as a whole unit, we take responsibility ourselves. Yesterday was a testament to that in terms of the way we went about it,” David Warner added.
Pat Cummins’s led side won the 2021–23 World Test Championship (WTC) earlier this year, defeating India in the championship match held at the Kennington Oval. The team came back stronger in the marquee event after losing their first two games against India and South Africa to win all their games on the road to win the championship in Ahmedabad.
