'Ahmedabad Crowd Was Silent': Why Indian Cricket Fans Wanted Wankhede for World Cup Final

Rohit Sharma’s India that blazed into the final of ICC World Cup 2023 without losing a single contest in the tournament were simply outshined by assertive Australia in Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday. Australia, led by Pat Cummins, gave it all on the field- be it full-length dives to save runs, bowling in the right areas, or batting fearlessly in front of 130K Indians. India batted first and could post a modest target of 240 in the crucial face-off.

Australia did have a rocky start but a fabulous Travis Head and a dependable Marnus Labuschagne ensured that the Aussies got to the target without much drama. Australia went on to lift their sixth ODI World Cup trophy and Indian fans were disappointed plenty, and understandably so.

While the pitch already came under the radar of angered fans who deemed it a “villain” when the Indian batters struggled to get going, many others pointed fingers at the Ahmedabad crowd, more specifically when the Australian batters Head and Labuschagne found their footing out in the middle.

Also Read: Fans Blame Ahmedabad Pitch For India’s Low Score Against Australia in World Cup Final

“And that is why you have a finals at a stadium like Wankhede. The crowd has gone silent. If this was Wankhede, the stadium would have been charged and loud and intimidating to the opponent. This is zero home advantage,” an ‘X’ user wrote.

“This crowd is absolutely embarrassing. Kohli literally has to motion to them to cheer. Horrible finals crowd,” another user chimed in.

Also Read: Babar Azam Takes ‘Revenge’ Against Virat Kohli, Congratulates Australia for World Cup 2023 Win

There was some mocking.

The hot takes kept pouring in.

“By making the tickets so inaccessible to the common man, most of this crowd is elite people who could afford second hand tickets of 50k. Such a crowd is there only to celebrate and enjoy the good things, not to support and push the team up during the hard moments,” a fan wrote in disappointment.

To their credit, many attendees at the stadium did share on ‘X’ website that the crowd was, in fact, cheering on for Team India despite sensing the contest had pretty much become a one-sided affair after that Head-Labuschagne stand.

But Aussie captain Cummins had the last laugh anyway.

Australia excelled in all the departments on the night it mattered the most. A stunning century by Head accompanied by his 192-run stand with partner-in-crime Labuschagne completely towered India’s 240.