“His tactics made all the difference” - Suresh Raina on why Australia won the 2023 World Cup final

Former India batter Suresh Raina has credited Pat Cummins’ captaincy and tactics for Australia's triumph in the 2023 World Cup final. Raina opined that Cummins and company outplayed India in the title clash with some very solid planning.

Australia beat India by six wickets in the 2023 World Cup final to lift the coveted trophy for the sixth time. Cummins made a bold decision to field first after winning the toss. The move proved to be a masterstroke as the Aussies restricted India to 240. Travis Head then struck a superb hundred as Australia got home in 43 overs.

In his column for ICC, Raina praised Cummins’ leadership and his tactical brilliance.

"What swung the game in Australia’s favour was Pat Cummins’ captaincy. The way he brought Glenn Maxwell in to the attack to get the wicket of Rohit Sharma with a brilliant catch from Travis Head was very smart. Adam Zampa was great too, as was Cummins himself in dismissing Virat Kohli,” Raina stated.

"They outplayed India and were very solid in their planning," the 2011 World Cup winner added.

The 36-year-old also hailed Australia for their fielding effort in the final, pointing out that they saved at least 30-40 runs with their diving and desperate stops.

"Another big factor was Australia’s fielding, I think they saved 30 to 40 runs. From ball one, they were saving a lot of singles and boundaries. There was Travis’ catch and some excellent work in the deep from David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne,” Raina elaborated.

"I think Cummins showed real temperament in his captaincy. He changed his bowlers knowing he could put pressure on each India batter even though they were all in such good form. His tactics made all the difference, and his planning and execution was perfect," he continued.

Australia began the World Cup with defeats to India and South Africa. Incidentally, they beat the Proteas in the semis before hammering India in the final.

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“Sometimes when there’s a lot of pressure you can lose your focus” - Raina on another World Cup defeat for India

While Australia are celebrating their sixth World Cup triumph, for India it was a case of so near yet so far again.

Even though the team failed to win the ICC tournament, Raina believes that the Men in Blue can comeback stronger in 2027.

"We will see the Indian team doing well again because they know how to reach the latter stages of tournaments now. It just takes a bit of time to understand how to manage those pressure situations, especially when you’re at home,” he said.

"Sometimes when there’s a lot of pressure you can lose your focus, and I think that’s a lesson they will learn from this," Raina concluded.

The 2027 Men’s ODI World Cup will be played in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.