Australia’s victory in Ahmedabad caps the best World Cup win I can remember: Michael Vaughan
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Tags: World Cup 2023,
India vs Australia, Final at Ahmedabad, Nov 19, 2023,
India,
Australia,
Michael Paul Vaughan
Published on: Nov 21, 2023
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Former England captain Michael Vaughan has rated Australia’s World Cup triumph as the best in the history of the ODI tournament. Vaughan hailed the Aussies for getting the better of India in India on a pitch he felt was prepared to suit the hosts and that too in front of 100,000 Indian spectators.
Hosts India went into the final unbeaten, winning 10 out of 10 games. On the day that mattered the most, though, they could not come up with their best performance. Sent into bat after losing the toss, India were bowled out for a disappointing 240. Travis Head then slammed 137 off 120 balls, clobbering 15 fours and four sixes as Australia lifted their sixth World Cup title.
Writing in his column for the ‘Daily Telegraph’, Vaughan opined, “Australia’s victory in Ahmedabad caps the best World Cup win I can remember in my time playing and covering cricket.
“To beat this India team, in front of more than 100,000 Indian supporters, on a pitch meant to suit the hosts, is an extraordinary sporting achievement, especially after starting the tournament with two losses,” he added.
According to the former England skipper, the win is in the same league as the ones achieved by the likes of legendary Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Steve Waugh and Glenn McGrath among others in the late 1990s and in early to mid-2000s.
“This group of Australian players had the misfortune of following one of the greatest teams in history, that of the nineties and noughties. It is difficult to always be compared to legends of the past,” he said.
“By winning a World Cup in India, the hardest place to do it, they have now achieved something the greats of old never did. I think some of these names – Warner, Smith, Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood – should now stand with Ponting, Waugh, Gilchrist, Warne and McGrath. They are a special team,” Vaughan stated.
The former England skipper pointed out that seven members of the squad won the World Cup in 2015, and 10 won the T20 World Cup in 2021. He continued to hail the Australian team and added, “Eight of the XI are part of the side that won the World Test Championship this year, and have shown they can compete in all conditions, which not all teams can, in India and England this year.
“They deserve a huge amount of respect. They are the best cricket team in the world across formats. Even us English can’t deny them that mantle right now. Not even morally!” he continued.
–By A Cricket Correspondent
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