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I found it funny at the toss the Indian skipper said they would have batted first yet after the game he claims they knew it would be easier to bat second?

I get their disappointment but real poor form to not all stay on the field for the trophy presentation.

Must say i too wasn't keen on the set up but clearly sitting around singing songs and holding hands is working. Will be interesting to see what happens now, surely a change of team is required because i can't see Smith, Warner, Marsh, Maxwell, Starc, Hazelwood, Cummins, Stoines, etc all making the next world cup.

The skippers act at the end of the night when he asked for the Indian support staff associated to the Australian team to all hold the trophy while he took photo's was a nice bit of class and shows the guy is just a real nice guy - regardless of if you like him or not

Freezin wrote:

Definitely a win a lot of folk didn't  see coming.....what a great backs to the wall performance...congrats to the team for delivering under pressure, especially Head, Marnus and the skipper. Definitely Aust best performance all competition, with bat, ball and in the field.

So its cuddles and Kumbyah ballads for all........only the miserable will find a negative vibe to that Aust win.....wholeheartedly agree Aust, weren't the best side during the tournament and  on paper, didn't have a side with an ounce of ODI to it bar the top 3 batsmen. & Maxwell...but you can't fault the grit, determination and will to win shown by the skipper and his team.

Call it good luck and plenty of good fortune, but love him or loathe them,  the record books will show R&P are a  winning WTC and a WC ODI duo.......and that is the bit that bites at a few I guess.

What an excellent post Freezin. Agree with all of it. Indian sore losers it gave me great joy to see 130,000 sad faces at the ODI Final. 

We own India's ass. Knocked them off in the Test champions final and now one day cup on their dung heap. Test champions, keeping the Ashes in England and now ODI champs. Not a bad trifecta.

I think the lads need a well earned rest and time off to count their money.

The fielding by the team in both the semi final and the final was absolutely outstanding and gave the opposition no easy runs. Warner is 37 but is superbly fit and I'm sure he saved 10- 15 runs just by his efforts yesterday. Then there was that outstanding catch by Head which cut short another classic from Rohit. I thought the Indians were complacent and by the time they realised that they had a serious game on their hands it was almost too late.
You have to give massive credit to Cummins and the management team for reading the pitch and the situation perfectly. McDonald has been much maligned on this forum (and yes I'll admit that I have been one of the doubters) but he only needs to point to the results in 2023 ( test victory over South Africa, World Test Championship, retaining ashes and ODI World Cup) to demonstrate that he has the team playing for him. Now he has the challenge of rebuilding the group with all the retirements which are not too far away..

Totally agree mikeh.....I have no doubt the R&P show will stumble in the future, but just goes to show there are many ways to skin a cat.....the naysayers will say the R&P regime have been extremely lucky with their success so far.....the rebuild will be an interesting one, as there are many names on the fringe of retirement,who have achieved some elite success during their careers......ranging across all 3 formats.

Australia timed their run perfectly and played their best game in the final. Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins were patchy during the qualifying games but were at their best in the semi final and final. Zampa was great after a shaky start. Head justified his selection  even though he had a broken finger at the start of the tournament. Maxwell was an integral part of the team with bat and ball and his double century will be etched in folklore. Probably the only batsman who didn't live up to expectations was Smith who seemed a bit confused about his role. Marnus was not even in the initial squad but his innings in the final was crucial. Inglis slotted in to the team brilliantly and will also push Carey for the test job I reckon. The fielding in the finals was breathtaking
Another classic case of a team peaking at the right time and India did not cope with the pressure given that they had rolled though their games with no problems up to the final.
Some of the players have to stay in India to play a meaningless T20 series which is just a money making exercise for the BCCI, just insanity. Hopefully the test guys wont be involved.
 

There's a bit more science it turns out behind the Aussies decision to bowl first. Quite fascinating and even caught the Indians off guard. The cat is out of the bag now.

www.news.com.au/sport/cricket/india-dece...eb1945c6e2f82ab755b7

Not sure why the Indians are making such a big thing about the pitch they prepared to their own specifications. The Aussies obviously did their homework, but after Cummins won the toss, they interviewed Rohit and he said the toss meant nothing as he was going to bat anyway, so the Aussies were always going to bowl first, perhaps confirms the overconfidence that permeated the Indian camp.