'KL should've gone' - Gautam Gambhir unhappy with KL Rahul's defensive approach in World Cup final vs Australia

India’s dream of winning their third World Cup title was shattered by Australia who beat them by six wickets in the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.  After being put in to bat first, India posted a below-par total of 240 in their allotted 50 overs. In reply, Australia comfortably chased down the target in 43 overs courtesy of a splendid hundred by Travis Head (137 off 120) and clinched their sixth World Cup title.

Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir has come down heavily on Indian batters for not being aggressive enough in the middle overs. Notably after a good start from captain Rohit Sharma (47 off 31), KL Rahul (66 off 107), Ravindra Jadeja (9 off 22) and Suryakumar Yadav (18 off 28) failed to get going and India had to settle for a below-par score.

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“It's a double-edged sword. But I have always said this, the most courageous team will go on to win the World Cup. I can understand that you need time to build a partnership but 11 to 40 overs is a very, very long time. Someone should have taken that risk,” Gambhir told Sportskeeda.

Further speaking ahead, Gambhir opined that KL Rahul should’ve been more aggressive during his partnership with Virat Kohli where the duo put on 67 runs off 109 balls for the fourth wicket.

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“Kohli has played a role of anchoring the innings, but the rest all should have been aggressive. KL should have gone. What harm would it have caused? We would have been 150 all out. But had we been brave, we could scored 310 and India would have been world champions. This is not the 1990s. 240 is not a good score at all. You need 300-plus totals. India were not brave enough,” he added.

India failed to take on Australian spinners and part-timers

Notably, India’s timid approach in the middle overs led to Australian bowlers Adam Zampa (1/44, 10 overs), Pat Cummins (2/34, 10 overs), Mitchell Marsh (0/5, 2 overs) and Travis Head (0/4, 2 overs) bowling economical spells. As a result, India had to settle for a below par score which Australia chased down comfortably and crushed India's hopes of winning their second World Cup on home soil.