Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav has said that if the ODI World Cup 2023 final was held in Lucknow instead of Gujarat, then Team India would have won against Australia.
India won 10 consecutive games to reach the final but were defeated in the summit clash by Australia in the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat on Sunday.
"The match (World Cup 2023 final) that took place in Gujarat, if it had happened in Lucknow, they (team India) would have got blessings of so many...if the match had happened there (Lucknow), team India would have got the blessings of Lord Vishnu and Atal Bihari Vajpayee and India would have won. Now it can be heard that there was some issue with the pitch," he said here on Tuesday.
Coming to the match, India bundled out on a score of 240 in 50 overs. On a tough batting surface, skipper Rohit Sharma (47 in 31 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes), Virat Kohli (54 in 63 balls, with four boundaries) and KL Rahul (66 in 107 balls, with one four) posted important knocks.
Mitchell Starc (3/55) was the pick of the bowlers for Australia. Skipper Pat Cummins (2/34) and Josh Hazlewood (2/60) also bowled well. Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell got a wicket each.
While chasing 241, India had the Aussies down at 47/3. Knocks from Travis Head (137 in 120 balls, with 15 fours and four sixes) and Marnus Labuschagne (58 in 110 balls, with four boundaries) left the Indian team without answers, and Australia won by six wickets.
The World Cup finalists will now compete in a five-match T20I series which will begin from November 23 in Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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