IND vs AUS | Twitter and Ahmedabad go wild after Cummins' 'crazy' toss decision give 2003 final flashback
History has a funny way of repeating itself in life and with the narrative brilliantly building up for the 2023 World Cup final, the first exhilarating twist came at the toss itself. Pat Cummins won the coin flip and opted to field first, mirroring Sourav Ganguly's fatal mistake from 20 years ago.
In front of a record crowd at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday, Rohit Sharma and Pat Cummins walked into the middle for the toss with the baggage of millions of hopes behind them. While the former was handed the responsibility to hand te Men in Blue a first major trophy in a decade, the pacer in canary yellow was gunning for a sixth World Cup title for the men from Down Under. Ravi Shastri's booming voice filled the stadium as match referee Andy Pycroft handed the coin to the home captain whose flip landed on tails, in alignment with the loud call made by his counterpart. Loud jeers instantly rang around the largest cricket arena on planet Earth, the Indian contingent seemingly having resigned to a dismal stroke of fortune, but few could have expected what followed.
After a brief first pump, Cummins surprisingly declared his intention to field first. The one lakh-plus present at the ground needed no second invitation to turn their boos into a deafening cheer, prompting the Australian skipper to speculate with a smirk they were essentially calling him crazy. While Cummins put the decision largely down to dew, Rohit conceded he would have opted to set a target regardless. Interestingly, when the two sides had last met in the summit clash 20 years ago in Johannesburg, the then Indian captain Sourav Ganguly had similarly chosen to bowl much to the dismay of experts and critics which had led to an embarrassing 125-run defeat.
Twitterati was quick to draw parallels between the two occasions and labelled the turn of events as the first step in India's bid for the title on the fateful day.
Good toss to lose
— virat Sharma (@viratSharm69964) November 19, 2023
Yeah boy
India lost the Still batting first
— Abhishek (@MSDianAbhiii) November 19, 2023
toss pic.twitter.com/Crdf0ECqbb
Happy fans
Australia won the Toss But decided To Bowl First
— Pulkit🇮🇳 (@pulkit5Dx) November 19, 2023
ICT fans: pic.twitter.com/Z2V6KPQAAX
Scared
Lost the toss. That's it. I don't have anything else to say cause I'm fucking scared. pic.twitter.com/yksL0fYpAq
— Heisenberg ☢ (@internetumpire) November 19, 2023
No jinxing please
1983 - IND Lost Toss & Won 🏆
— 𝑺𝒉𝒆𝒃𝒂𝒔 (@Shebas_10dulkar) November 19, 2023
2003 - IND Won Toss & Lost 🏆
2011 - IND Lost Toss & Won 🏆
2023 - IND Lost Toss &#CWC23
Big W
Australia won the Toss But decided To Bowl First
— rozgar_CA (@Memeswalaladka) November 19, 2023
ICT fans: pic.twitter.com/CRvqtZQjsY
It's gonna be a good game
When India lost the toss but still got to Bat first. #INDvsAUSfinal pic.twitter.com/syeAffgWPf
— Harshhh! (@Harsh_humour) November 19, 2023
Goku vibes
Nothing just Ravi Shastri’s energy during Toss time. pic.twitter.com/vAOBdNr6jC
— Mikku 🐼 (@effucktivehumor) November 19, 2023
History!
Back in 2003 India won the toss & decides to bowl first, lost the match to Aussies. Fast forward to 2023, Australia won the toss & decides to bowl first 💀 pic.twitter.com/gwK6RrYcEz
— Shubh (@kadaipaneeeer) November 19, 2023
True
At least we don't have to sit and mourn about a wrong call at the toss.
— Venkata Krishna B (@venkatatweets) November 19, 2023