Before the match, Australia skipper Pat Cummins had claimed that he would love to silence the crowd at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Marnus Labuschagne, the greatest concussion substitute, has added more misery to Indian fans after his ICC World Cup-winning 55-run knock in the Final. The middle-order batter has claimed that the mammoth crowd at the Narendra Modi Stadium helped him and Travis Head take Australia to their 6th title. For the Indian team and the viewers, the sea of blue in Ahmedabad was behind India throughout the match, but for Marnus, that was certainly not the case.
According to Marnus, the 92,000-strong crowd at the stadium helped him and the Aussies with their silence.
“The sound of silence in India is a great sound because it means you are on top,” Labuschagne said after Australia claimed a convincing 6-wicket victory despite being labelled as the underdogs prior to the match.
The crowd heavily favoured India throughout the match; however, Labuschagne feels they fueled their fire every time they went quiet.
The crowd was as loud as it could get until India skipper Rohit Sharma departed in the last over of the powerplay. Then, a run of play dominated by Australia saw Virat Kohli go back to the pavilion, which silenced the crowd.
However, the crowd found their voice back as India roared into the match, reducing Australia to 47/3 due to the courtesy of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami.
That’s when Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head took over. The duo stitched a 192-run stand that took their side to a record 6th title. However, the assurance of how well they were playing did not come from the Aussie dugout but from the crowd for Labuschagne.
“Me and Heady (Travis Head) were discussing that we got them here now. Everything is quiet now. Just keep playing. Try to keep the crowd out of it,”, the right-hander said.