After Australia lost their first two matches of the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup, anyone could hardly imagine that the Pat Cummins-led side would wrap up the campaign on a triumphant note. The unexpected thing actually happened as Australia endured no more defeat throughout the tournament before overcoming India in the final to secure their sixth ODI World Cup title.
Australia head coach Andrew McDonald has spilt the beans about a team meeting that changed the scenario of the Australian camp.
After losing to South Africa in the second league match, the Australian cricketers and the coaching staff sat together for a discussion to chalk out the plans for the remainder of the tournament. Despite blaming any individual player for the disastrous start, the team decided to stick together, while reinforcing the idea that they were going in the right direction. According to Andrew McDonald, the team management kept their belief in the initial plans as they were hopeful of getting positive results in due course.
During a recent interview on SEN Cricket, Andrew McDonald revealed, “There was a get-together after the South Africa loss. But once again, that was really just to reinforce that we were on the right path. It was about, ‘Let’s stick to it and believe in what we’ve set out to achieve’, and that it will come to fruition eventually, albeit it didn’t in the first couple of games.”
The cricketer-turned-coach further stated that the Aussie players chose to move on from the early setbacks as holding on to those defeats would do nothing but “create panic within the group.” “It also means that potentially your planning has been well off and at 0-2 in a nine-match World Cup and it’s not the time to start throwing the baby out with the bath water. It was just a time to say, ‘Ok, let’s get moving’,” McDonald recalled.
The support certainly paid off as Australia appeared in a more dangerous version in the latter half of the World Cup campaign. They went on to win all of the remaining seven league matches before getting the better of South Africa in a low-scoring semi-final.
Australia pulled off a dominant start to the final against India, courtesy of a lethal bowling show from the new-ball pacers. Pat Cummins and Co. managed to restrict the Men in Blue to a below-par total of 240 runs in the first innings. Travis Head stole the show during the chase. The Australia opener played a match-winning 137-run knock that helped his team reach the target in 43 overs.
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