The Australian cricket team is in a very strong position against India in the WTC final which is being played at The Oval, London, as the Aussies have given a big target of 444 runs to the Indian squad for winning the match.
Toss was a very important factor in this match and it was won by the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma who chose to bowl first. Initially the decision seemed to be correct as the Indian bowlers dismissed 3 Aussie batters at the score of 76 runs but Steve Smith (121 runs) and Travis Head (163 runs) turned things in their team’s favor by helping their team in posting the total of 469 runs in the first innings.
The Indian team which has some big names of the cricket world could manage only 296 runs in their first innings, the Indian top order fumbled against the Aussie bowling attack but the middle order and lower order showed resistance and saved some respect. While Ajinkya Rahane made a great comeback by scoring 89 runs, Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur played useful knocks of 48 runs and 51 runs, respectively.
The Aussies declared their second innings at the score of 270/8 and gave target of 444 runs to the Indian team for winning this match which seems quite difficult for the Indian team considering their batting performance in the first innings.
In the second innings, India has scored 164/3 with Virat Kohli (44*) and Ajinkya Rahane (20*) at the crease and now they need 280 runs in 97 overs to win this match on the last day of the WTC final.
The Indian skipper Rohit Sharma was trolled a lot after his failure with bat in the first innings and even some former cricketers also slammed him for not playing well in this important match. In the second innings, the Indian captain got a good start and he was playing well at the score of 43 runs with 7 fours & 1 six but one wrong shot on the bowling of Nathan Lyon resulted in his dismissal and this left the Indian cricket lovers highly disappointed.
After Rohit Sharma got out, Twitterati expressed disappointment over his dismissal. Here are some selected reactions:
Why Rohit Sharma why? 😔💔 pic.twitter.com/L6IPuZPoSn
— Dennis❤️ (@DenissForReal) June 10, 2023
All Indian and Rohit Sharma fans right now. 💔💔 pic.twitter.com/6iwEbHNkzL
— ANSHUMAN🚩 (@AvengerReturns) June 10, 2023
https://twitter.com/india_adidas/status/1667581828792991749
Bowlers can't get Rohit out after 30 runs, Only Rohit Sharma gets out himself. I know Rohit plays this shot quite often, but runs were coming quickly, so you should have avoided it. I'm really disappointed 😞. I expected a 3 digit score from you pic.twitter.com/jLOYbDu5Jd
— ISHU YADAV (@IshRo45) June 10, 2023
The chase was going smoothly, then Rohit decided he will try something different. Please stop throwing your wicket away during crucial games ffs. #WTCFinal2023
— Anushanth R (@Anushanth_R) June 10, 2023
https://twitter.com/ViratianTweets/status/1667559219275665414
https://twitter.com/ImHydro45/status/1667808913394372609
Ravi Shastri said, "Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara will be kicking themselves for playing the shots that they played. They were poor shots when they were batting beautifully". pic.twitter.com/dvKqJobfhI
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) June 11, 2023
https://twitter.com/ViratianTweets/status/1667814459077787648
Rohit Sharma 43(60)
Ball by ball highlightshttps://t.co/050anNDM7W— Spartan (@_spartan_45) June 11, 2023
Okay, this was an unnecessary attempt to play such a cheeky sweep shot. Even took his eyes off the ball. Very bad shot I must say. Could have easily go on to score big from here.
— Rahul Sharma (@CricFnatic) June 10, 2023
Will India win the WTC final? What do you think? Let us know your views.