Vaibhav Tripathi
After securing victory in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 final, Pat Cummins, the winning captain, expressed his admiration for his team’s performance. He praised the outstanding partnership between Travis Head and Steve Smith, who added 285 runs in the first innings, which in turn propelled Australia to a total of 469.
Head, a left-handed batter, made history by becoming the first-ever centurion in a WTC final, scoring an impressive 163 runs off 174 balls. His counter-attacking innings after Australia lost three wickets proved to be a decisive factor.
“We made the most of it (losing the toss),” Cummins said at the post-match presentation. “We were certainly going to bowl. The way Travis (Head) and (Steve) Smithy put on that partnership, gave us the comfort after a nervy morning. He (Head) has been brilliant right throughout this campaign, started with the Ashes a couple of years ago.
“He just puts the pressure right back on the bowlers and suddenly you are thinking about how to contain runs rather than taking wickets. We left day one feeling like we were on top of the game. When it counted, we played really well. We could have really driven the game, didn’t have our best day and let India closer back in. For the most parts, we were in control.”
Meanwhile, seamer, Scott Boland, took the key wickets of Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja in the second innings. He had also dismissed Gill in the first innings. Cummins heaped praised on Boland and also other bowlers for putting up a collective effort.
“(Scott) Boland – he’s my favourite player. He just continues to be my favourite. Everyone did their role really well. Coming off a break, everyone switched on when it mattered. Everyone played really well and we’ll savour this for a few years before we turn our attention (to the Ashes).