Former Team India batting coach Vikram Rathour dismissed the theory that tampering with the pitch led Team India to a loss against Australia in the 2023 ODI World Cup final in Ahmedabad. Australia ended up lifting their sixth World Cup as India’s unbeaten run came to an end as well.

The final saw Australia surprisingly electing to bowl first and the decision proved fruitful, as India struggled to post 240 runs on the board after a good start. Australia completely choked the Indian batting unit in the middle and chased down the total comfortably, courtesy of a Travis Head ton.

“I’ve heard this story that the pitch was different, which I don’t agree with at all. In the final, the pitch improved as the game progressed; we expected it to get slower, which it didn’t, so why did that happen? Yes, we could have scored more runs. There are so many ifs and buts, but one thing is sure: you need a little luck to win a tournament. And that day, Australia were luckier than us. They played better cricket than us. And that’s the reason they won,” Vikram Rathour said in an interaction with Sportstar.

Notably, Rathour came in as Sanjay Bangar’s replacement during Ravi Shastri’s tenure as head coach. He found a place in Rahul Dravid’s regime as well and recently stepped down after Team India won the 2024 T20 World Cup. And, under Rahul Dravid India reached numerous semi-finals and finals of ICC events, but failed to win before winning the trophy at the 2024 T20 World Cup.

“Rahul is the best coach I’ve worked with. He has a great character and is good at what he does. He talks well, is very thorough, and is disciplined with his coaching. He took over when India was in a transition phase with significant challenges ahead. We were good friends. And we are even better friends now. The expectations were higher when he joined. He was calm and composed through these challenging times,” Vikram Rathour said.