It's not often that a country feels like an obituary. Even the wind was mourning. It was a funeral without a death. That's how November 19, 2023 felt for probably every Indian. After what was a scintillating 10-match winning streak, all of it counted for nothing as Australia literally silenced a 1.2 Lakh capacity crowd at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup final last year by beating India. The loss is still unacceptable for a lot of Indians.
It was literally 'Morsel in hand, but didn't get to taste it' for the Rohit Sharma-led Indian team and 1.4 billion people. The ICC trophy drought eventually ended earlier this year in June for India with the second T20 World Cup title, but the ODI World Cup loss hurt a part of the Indian hearts that would remain unhealed probably for a lifetime. Those six weeks felt like a festival, a dream that almost came true and an undescribable feeling, only for it to be shattered into pieces.
'Khada hun aaj bhi wahin', one of the phrases from the song 'Choo Lo Jo Mujhe' by The Local Train became popular after the defeat, which roughly translates to 'I'm still there.' And literally some of the die-hard fans of the sport and Indian cricket, in particular, haven't forgotten what happened on that wretched night on November Sunday.
Some of the fans on social media celebrated the 'khada hun aaj bhi wahin' day as they are yet to move on from the heartbreaking defeat. Here's a look at some of the reactions:
India were bowled out for 240 in the final with KL Rahul top-scoring with a 107-ball 66. Australia chased it down after fighting back from a troubled position of being 47/3. Travis Head, India's nemesis in the ICC finals, smashed a ton with Marnus Labuschagne scoring an unbeaten fifty.
This was Australia's 6th World Cup title with the other seven being shared by India (twice), West Indies (twice), Sri Lanka, Pakistan and England (once each). The next edition of the ODI World Cup will take place in 2027 in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
