After the first week of the 2023 ODI World Cup, not many would have believed that the Aussies would win the tournament. However, the big tournament temperament of the team turned up again and they defeated India in the finals. While they were brilliant tactically, they also took some bold calls. On that note, here, we take a look at three extremely bold decisions that helped Australia win the 2023 ODI World Cup.
1) Waiting for Travis Head to recover from his injury
If a player is not going to be available for more than half of a tournament, most teams would go for a replacement. Especially when only 15 members are allowed in the squad, this is bound to happen. However, in Travis Head‘s case, Australia did not do that.
This had a direct effect on the team’s performance. Head was brilliant in both the semi-finals and the finals. This decision had a great influence on the Aussies winning the title.
2) Picking Marnus Labuschagne as Ashton Agar’s replacement
Picking Marnus Labuschagne as Ashton Agar’s replacement is one of the extremely bold decisions that helped Australia win the 2023 ODI World Cup. Agar is a frontline spinner and on Indian conditions, if a spinner is injured, usually, a spinner gets named as the replacement.
However, Marnus was given the opportunity in this case. This was going to be a bold call. If Adam Zampa had had an injury, Australia would have been left with no frontline spinners. This call came off, especially with Marnus’ great show in the finals.
3) Going with only one frontline spinner
Adam Zampa was the only frontline spinner for Australia in the World Cup. Glenn Maxwell was there for support but Maxi is more of a batting all-rounder.
In Indian conditions, most teams overload their squads with spinners. However, Australia did not do that and played to their strengths. This helped them go to the field with a balanced squad.
