Former England captain Nasser Hussain showered praise on Australia captain Pat Cummins after the World Cup Final. Australia dominated India in the summit clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad and won the 2023 title by 6 wickets.
Hussain, while speaking on Sky Sports said that Cummins got everything right in the final, starting from his brave decision to bowl first in a dry and slow wicket in Ahmedabad.
“It was a brave decision from Cummins to bowl first,” Hussain said on Sky Sports.
“A weak captain would make a decision that if it goes wrong and you lose it makes you look less bad. But he made a brave and right decision,” Hussain further added.
After bowling first, Australia were put on the back foot by India captain Rohit Sharma in the first powerplay. India raced to 80 runs in the first 10 overs, courtesy of Rohit’s rapid 47 off 31 balls. The Australian team, however, regrouped after Rohit’s departure in the 10th over and put a chokehold on the Indian team.
Australia conceded just four boundaries outside the first powerplay and bowled out India for 240 runs in 50 overs. Australia pace attack were the star of the show, with Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins himself bagging 7 wickets between them. Cummins in fact picked up the crucial wicket of Virat Kohli in the 29th over to derail India in the final.
“He absolutely nailed it. He nailed everything. Field placements, bowling changes. Everything was spot on,” Hussain further added.
Cummins’ bowling changes were impressive as he did not let the India batters settle down in the pitch. In the latter half of the first innings, Australia bowled cutters and did not give the Indian batters any pace at all to work with.
Former England cricketer Michael Atherton lauded the side for going through the grind and winning the tournament the hard way.
“Australia are an amazing team, you have to hand it to them. They have won the World Test Championship, retained the Ashes and have now shown their nerve and temperament in the World Cup,” Atherton said on Sky Sports.
“There were under pressure after two defeats, the captain was under pressure, people questioned strategy, tactics and personnel,” Atherton further added.
“They have done it the hard way on a pudding of a pitch that would be so different to one at home, and against a tip-top team,” the former batter concluded.
