By Australia’s Cricket Triumphs: Test Championship, Ashes Retention, and ODI World Cup Victory in 2023
Pat Cummins termed winning the World Cup as the ‘pinnacle of international cricket’ after Australia emerged victorious in a rather one-sided affair at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday (November 19).
A relentless performance with the ball helped them restrict India to 240 before Travis Head put on a show, scoring a fabulous century that helped Australia chase down the target in 43 overs to lift the trophy in the men’s edition for the sixth time.
“That’s huge, I think that’s the pinnacle of international cricket, winning a one-day World Cup. Especially over here in India, in front of a crowd like this. Yeah, that’s huge. Yeah, it’s been a big year for everyone, but our cricket team has been here in India, Ashes, World Test Championship and to top it off with this is just huge and these are the moments that you’ll remember for the rest of your life,” said Cummins at the post-match press conference.
“It’s just every international team comes together. You only get a shot at it every four years. Even if you have a ten-year career, you might only get two chances at it. And yeah, it’s just the whole cricket world stops with this World Cup. So, it doesn’t get any better.”
Cummins Hails World Cup Victory as Pinnacle of International Cricket
This has been a year of successes for Australia, what with a World Test Championship title by beating India, retaining the Ashes in England, and now the ODI World Cup victory. And when asked to rate the best, Cummins was quick to again label the World Cup win as their ‘pinnacle’.
“This is, no doubt,” said Cummins. “The World Test Championship was huge like again another two-year campaign – but yet an ODI World Cup – it’s the rich history I think and to come out of a place like India where you know the conditions are so different to back home, it’s pretty grueling, 11 games in whatever it was, 5 – 6 weeks, but yeah, the way the group stuck together and got through it and yeah holding the medal is – that’s the pinnacle.”
One thing that Cummins hoped for before the match was to silence the humongous crowd at the stadium, and Australia lived up to that with their clinical performance. Barring the aggressive start with the bat by Rohit Sharma and India’s early strikes with the ball, the 92,000-odd who had turned up at the ground spent the majority of the game in stunned silence.
“I always like to say I’m pretty relaxed but I was a little bit nervous this morning you know just pacing around waiting for it to get started just seeing the sea of blue in the hotel, getting nearer the ground, and seeing the sea of blue, walking, making its way to the ground, all the cars parked with their selfie cameras out, you kind of knew you were walking into something pretty special. And then to walk out for the toss and just see 130,000 blue Indian shirts, it’s an experience you’ll never forget. Awesome day and the good thing was they weren’t too noisy for most of it,” noted Cummins.
The crowd was shocked when Virat Kohli, after scoring a fifty and seeming set for more, played a delivery from Cummins onto the stumps.”We did take a second in the huddle just to acknowledge the silence that was going around the crowd. “The day felt tailor-made for him to score another hundred, as he typically does. Getting him out was quite satisfying,” remarked the Australia captain.
Cummins, Australia’s longstanding leader, highlighted the team’s unity in adhering to their collective goals, resulting in numerous proud moments on the field.
the humongous crowd at the stadium, and Australia lived up to that with their clinical performance. Barring the aggressive start with the bat by Rohit Sharma and India’s early strikes with the ball, the 92,000-odd who had turned up at the ground spent the majority of the game in stunned silence.
