Navjot Sidhu called World Cup final correct, cautioned India against a sub-300 total on Ahmedabad pitch | Chandigarh News
2 min readCricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu may not be scoring politically. Still, he was right in predicting that any first-innings score of less than 300 by India on the Ahmedabad pitch in the final would be advantageous to Australia.
Talking to the Press Trust of India, Sidhu, before the start of the match and after Australia won the toss and elected to field, said, “The onus would lie on Indian batting. If they score around 350 runs, the match will be in their pocket.”
India were bowled out for 240 in 50 overs and Australia chased down the target in 43 overs losing just four wickets, for their sixth men’s 50-over World Cup triumph.
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Sidhu had said the Indian batsmen were competent to put that score on board given their stupendous performance in the World Cup. He, however, had categorically cautioned that Australia would get a little bit of advantage due to dew in the night in case the hosts were restricted to under 275 runs.
“See, there could be hundreds and even thousands of wrong answers to a mathematical question, but only one correct answer…The correct answer is that you transform your opportunity to your advantage. Factoring in the advantage that the chasing team won on this ground in three of four matches, Australia chose to field first.”
“And on this pitch, 300 runs have not been scored. The Indian team can set a target of 350 runs… The brave men don’t wait for suitable situations but create the ones. And the Indian team has that capability. It is such a balanced team that it can win matches while walking a tightrope… I think the onus lies on batting this time, and if the Indian team scores 350 runs, they win the match,” the Congress leader had said.