World Cup Final: Maybe if it was a league match, India would have played differently, says Sanjay Manjrekar

Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar reckons India would have played differently against Australia in the World Cup final if it was a league match. India lost the all-important final by six wickets against the Aussies after they could only post 240 runs on the board.

In fact, India had beaten Australia by six wickets in their opening World Cup match. But Indian batters batted with pressure and they could only score 117 runs in the middle overs in the summit clash.

The hosts failed to change gears in the middle overs and it led to the team’s downfall. Furthermore, India didn’t have the depth in their batting and it was the major reason behind their sedate approach.

“India felt the pressure of not having depth; you know, those little chinks in India’s armour came to the fore,” Manjrekar told Star Sports.

KL Rahul scored 66 runs off 106 balls and he could get a move on in the middle overs. In fact, India could only hit four boundaries after the 10th over.

“The batting depth wasn’t there, and you saw the way KL Rahul played a bulk of the innings with the knowledge that there isn’t much batting to come,” Manjrekar said without mentioning any name.

Manjrekar added India had certain limitations, which they had taken care of, throughout the tournament.

“Well, India had certain limitations that they had covered beautifully throughout the tournament, with Jadeja at number 7 and their batting finishing at number 6,” he added.

Manjrekar added that India would have taken a different approach if they were playing against a team like Sri Lanka.

“Just imagine this game was a league match between Sri Lanka and India; would India have taken that risk? Maybe yes, that is where perhaps temperament comes in, and maybe, if it was a league match, India would have played differently,” he said.

India was dominant right throughout the tournament but could not bring their best in the all-important final.