Former England captain Nasser Hussain said that Pat Cummins’ decision to bowl first in the 2023 World Cup final was a brave call. However, Hussain praised the Australian bowlers’ execution on the sluggish surface. However, to everyone’s surprise, Cummins chose to field first in Ahmedabad on Sunday despite the fact that Indian batting unit being in sublime form. His decision worked for them as the hosts could not bat well and could managed only 240 runs on the board.

In his column for The Daily Mail, Hussain shared: “Make no mistake, that was a brave call in a World Cup final to bowl first, especially with the way India’s batting has fired throughout this tournament, but it was the correct one. The Australian captain was absolutely right because he correctly calculated that this dry Ahmedabad pitch would become better for batting later on in the evening as the dew came down and the ball skidded on.”

The veteran further added that the Aussie bowlers used the reverse swing quite perfectly, including Pat Cummins with his slower bouncers. He, however, finished with the impressive figures of 10-0-34-2 as well.

“Then after getting it right at the toss the tone was set by Australia’s outstanding fielding and their bowling when a dry pitch made the ball abrasive and brought reverse swing for Mitchell Starc along with effective slower ball bouncers from Cummins himself. It was one of those days when everything the captain touched turned into gold,” Hussain added.

“If India had a say in the type of pitch prepared for this final then they made an error. They think they are backing their spinners by having a dry surface but it brings the opposition into it and they are actually at their most dangerous when they play on a good surface that turns just a bit. India have shown they are the epicentre of world cricket now and put on a great show but Australia are worthy winners of the World Cup,” Nasser Hussain concluded.