"Siraj got marginalized" - Aakash Chopra on India using Mohammed Shami with the new ball in the 2023 World Cup final vs Australia

Aakash Chopra feels Rohit Sharma's decision to give the new ball to Mohammed Shami ahead of Mohammed Siraj made the latter redundant in the 2023 World Cup final.

India set Australia a 241-run target in the title decider at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday. Although the Aussies were reduced to 47/3 after seven overs in the run chase, a 192-run fourth-wicket partnership between Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne helped them register a six-wicket win with seven overs to spare.

Reflecting on India's bowling in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra opined that the below-par target made the Indian bowlers try too hard, with the move to use Shami ahead of Siraj virtually making the latter unusable. He elaborated (7:00):

"We started well with the ball but were slightly wayward because we were going left-right too much. We were thinking about picking up wickets quickly because we didn't have runs on the board."

The former India opener added:

"We went with Shami instead of Siraj because we didn't have runs on the board. When we did that, Shami did pick up a wicket, but Siraj got marginalized. He didn't get a chance at all. His game was almost over because you couldn't bring him in."

Bumrah and Shami bowled the first 10 overs of Australia's innings. Siraj was introduced into the attack only in the 17th over and was given just a three-over spell as he was proving ineffective.

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"Picking up three wickets in the powerplay implied that you had started controlling the game" - Aakash Chopra

Jasprit Bumrah dismissed Mitchell Marsh and Steve Smith with the new ball. [P/C: AP]

While observing that Jasprit Bumrah (2/43) and Mohammed Shami (1/47) were expensive in their first few overs, Aakash Chopra acknowledged that the duo had put India in an advantageous position with their three strikes. He said (7:25):

"Bumrah picked up two wickets at the start. Shami also took one, but 15 in the first over and 13 in the second, 28 runs in two overs, a lot of runs were scored at the start. However, picking up three wickets in the powerplay implied that you had started controlling the game."

The renowned commentator added that dew and Travis Head's belligerent 120-ball 137 took the game away from India. He explained:

"However, dew came after that. It made a massive difference. The ball stopped gripping and spinning and came nicely onto the bat. It was easy to rotate singles. They were hitting boundaries easily. Travis Head, who got the better of us in the WTC final, again got the better of us."

Chopra opined that India potentially missed a trick by not bowling bouncers against Head. He added that dew also forced Rohit Sharma to introduce his spinners as soon as the powerplay was over.