For a country where rugby is the number one sport by quite some distance, the pressure surrounding Australia is nowhere close to the one that the Indian fans are currently facing. Additionally, the odds of playing in front of 1 lakh 32 thousand roaring fans wearing blue jerseys at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday as well as playing on a slow, unpredictable track without specialist spinners like Rabindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav were also defied by the gallant Australia to achieve record-breaking sixth ODI World Cup title. 

Incredible fielding as well as controlled bowling by the Australian pacers, especially by Mitchel Starc forced Indian innings to grind their way to 240 all out in 50 overs after they were asked to bat by Australian captain Pat Cummins. Rohit Sharma got off to a rocket of a start as usual, Shubman Gill, who had a fantastic record across formats in Ahmedabad, fell early to Mitchell Starc. Virat Kohli came in all guns blazing but Rohit soon fell to Glenn Maxwell thanks to a fantastic catch from Travis Head three runs short of his half century.

Cummins then got the in-form Shreyas Iyer in the next over and KL Rahul and Kohli tried to steady the Indian ship. The boundaries dried up almost entirely after the 10th over and Kohli was played-on at 54 off 63 deliveries. Rahul then tried to hold the innings together but India were dealt another blow when Ravindra Jadeja, promoted ahead of Suryakumar Yadav, fell in the 36th over. 

Indian pacers also showed promise in the beginning as Mohammed Shami took the other new ball instead of Mohammed Siraj and struck with the second ball of his first over, sending back David Warner. Jasprit Bumrah then got the wicket of Mitchell Marsh. While both bowlers have been expensive, they sent back two of Australia's most dangerous top-order batters.

But Travis Head, the man with the golden hands tore Indian bowlers alone and guided his country to the desired title. Silencing 1 lakh people at the stadium as well as embarrassing the opposition Travis Head rejuvenated Australia from 47 from the loss of three wickets, steering team to the door of victory. Indian bowlers did not have any reply to Head’s magnificent 137, scored off 120 deliveries by the help of 15 fours and four sixes with the strike rate of 114.16. He was superbly assisted by Marnus Labuschagne, scoring unbeaten 58 off 10 deliveries. 

Travis Head, the Player of the Match, stated, “What an amazing day! Just thrilled to be a part of it. It's a lot better than seeing the World Cup on the couch at home (on his injury). I was a little bit nervous but Marnus played exceptionally well and soaked all the pressure. I felt the way Mitch [Marsh] took the game on set the tone and that was the energy we wanted. It was a great decision to bowl first and the wicket got better as the game went on. It paid dividends and nice to play a role. Again, it is something I work hard on and nice to hold on and contribute in front of a full house. I also feel proud to be on the list after Ricky Ponting, and Adam Gilchrist to have earned Player of the Match in World Cup finals.”

It's been a 10-year-long wait for ICC silverware, 12 years for a World Cup from 2011. Only two players remain in the India squad – Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin. Add to that the emotions surrounding cricket fans in their mid-30s, who were in their teenage years and cried themselves to sleep the night of 23rd March 2003.