 Australia stood on top of the world after defeating India to lift their sixth ICC 50 over World Cup trophy in the final at Ahmedabad on Sunday. The Aussies completed a comfortable six-wicket victory led by 1-37 from Travis Head, the third Australian and seventh player to score a century in a World Cup final. Australia are now six and two from eight cricket World Cup finals. Well, let's now hear from India coach Rahul Dravid. We've run a really good campaign, really proud of the boys, the way we played right through this tournament, the kind of cricket we played, just the way we, I think, just a quality of cricket that we played right through this tournament, I thought was quite exceptional. So really proud of the efforts, proud of everything that we gave, I think we gave everything we had in this tournament. So really proud of the team, proud of all the boys, proud of the support staff. I think we ran a really good campaign, just at the last step in the final, we probably didn't have our best game and credit to Australia. My congratulations to them, they played really well on the day. All right, so coach Rahul Dravid there, Ricardo looking extremely dejected and disappointed, but of course saying the right things and rightfully so, exceptional cricket from India throughout the tournament, it's just the match that mattered the most, they were unable to get across the line. Yeah, and you got the feeling at some point that India would have a bad game in the tournament and they were so dominant throughout the course of the preliminary stage and you think about the law of averages and you're saying, okay, when is that bad game going to come? Sadly for them, it came in the championship match, but you have to give credit to Australia as well. They played really good cricket. After they lost the opening game of the tournament, they had some tough matches, but they found a way to win a lot of those matches. You think back on the performance from Glenn Maxwell, for example, and those types of performances you saw from the Australians at different points of the tournament, and I feel, Mariah, that a lot of times when you're a path to the knockout stage, to the championship match, is difficult and it was laced with close shaves, you are a lot more prepared for battle than a team that's easing through and hasn't been tested in a serious way. And I think in many ways, India were a little timid in the final and the last team, especially with the bat, and the last team you want to be timid against in a big match like that, is Australia, and India paid the price for it. Yeah, definitely paid the price. Australia starting the tournament with two losses, back-to-back losses, and of course, emerging as the tournament winners. Well, let's hear now from that winning captain, Australia captain, Pat Cummins. I think that's the pinnacle of international cricket, winning a one-day World Cup, especially over here in India in front of a crowd like this. I'm going to turn my phones off, please, Cole. First press conference. Get rid of that bloke. Yeah, that's huge. Yeah, it's been a big year for everyone, but, you know, our cricket team's been to here in India, Asher's World Test Championship, and to top it off with this is just huge, and these are the moments that you'll remember for the rest of your life. All right. Fazir Mohamed joins us now via Zoom. Good afternoon, Faz. How are you? Not too bad at all, Mariah. All right. So we just heard from the winning captain, Pat Cummins, Faz, and one of the headlines I saw earlier this morning, the Aussies know how to win World Cups. Your thoughts on their win and, of course, India being defeated. Yeah, that's self-evident. Eight finals, champion six times, unbeaten in 2007 in the Caribbean, dominant until 2003 in South Africa. And, yes, they started badly. But as we mentioned previously, when you've got a tournament with nine preliminary matches, it gives you time to make amends to sort yourself out, and the Australians were certainly sorting themselves out. They were on a roll by the time they got to the final. As for India, I think Ricardo touched on the salient point. I felt that they were too cautious. If you've got four boundaries in 40 overs with a player, Virat Kohli, Kail Rahul in the middle, that speaks more to caution than outstanding Australian bowling. Taking nothing away from the Aussie seamers. They were superb in the conditions. But I think losing those three wickets, so early as they did, especially Roy Sharma, and not having Hardip Pandya in their lineup created that element of concern. And, of course, the gravitas of a final. If they were in the preliminary stages, they might still be going help or leather, because they would have been mindful that there was really nothing at stake other than the delight of winning and winning and winning. In a World Cup final, you almost seemed to have sensed that certainly with Kohli and Rahul in the middle, that they were playing as if if they were to be separated early, it could be disaster. And they could be all on for 180. And that's why you saw that extra level of caution, which I thought played right into the hands of the Australians. Yeah, rightfully so fast. Travis Head now, he had a brilliant knock. And do you think that innings will go down in history? It will be remembered as one of the best. It's an interesting one because Travis Head is the type of player who I'm sure most bowlers will think the way he plays, you're going to get him out sooner rather than later. But he is the archetypal Australian batsman. There are no half measures with him. He's coming at you. If he gets out cheaply, he's not going to be put off by it because that's the way he plays his game. And as we've seen, it's worked perfectly for Australia. It's worked in test match cricket for them. As the Western is found out 12 months ago and maybe we'll find out in the next six weeks when they go back to Australia. But he is that type of player who unsettles bowlers. He's always at them. He's always going at them. And yes, there will be the occasion when he'll fall cheaply, when he'll fall to what you might want to describe as an irresponsible shot. But he is that type of cricketer who ensures that the bowlers can never relax when he's in the middle. And of course, getting 100 in a World Cup Final is a significant occasion, especially when you finish up on the winning side. Yes, for sure. And Fazad, I'd love to hear your take, because in earlier today in Zoonabdeid 1, I read the report that our former Australia captain, Ricky Pontyn, spoke about India's pitch manipulation and how that backfired on them. Your thoughts? Well, I don't know whether it backfired because, indeed, there's no question that there would have been an element of form advantage to it. But whether it backfired, I wouldn't say that was the determining factor. I think the determining factor was that India got cold feet when they lost three early wickets. When Roy Sharma fell to that brilliant catch, and then, of course, Shivman Gill had gone previously, and then a third wicket went down. That's where you saw the caution keep coming in. And at that point, yes, the Australians vote well. But, as I said, again, given the quality of players we're talking about, remember we're talking about Virat Kohli, K.L. Rahul. I mean, Kohli is being healed as one of the greatest players of the modern era, if not one of the greatest of all time. And to have a situation where for 40 overs, 240 deliveries, they could only manage four boundaries. That speaks not so much about pitch manipulation or anything like that. Of course, punting and others will make much of it, because, again, it's always about throwing shade against the opposition. But the fact is that, I think, again, India dug their own hole by the way they went about much of that innings when they batted first. Yeah. You know, Fais, when you say that, it takes me back to pre-tournament when Brian Lara was saying who he thought were favourites to win this tournament, and he had pointed to India as one of the favourites. But he also cautioned Raul Dravid not to fall into the trap of thinking that only the likes of Virat Kohli and Roy Sharma could get the job done for them and that other players needed to step up as well if they were going to go all the way. And I just wonder if there was a thinking within the India setup, certainly as it relates to the batting lineup, that if Kohli and Raul and Sharma didn't do it, then it wasn't going to be done. And hence, the cautious nature of how they went about batting, especially after falling into trouble. I hear that, Ricardo. And it makes sense in a way because, of course, again, with no heartache, the batting would have been a bit shallow when you've got Muhammad Shami and so on coming in at 8, 9 or wherever. You're in big trouble. But the point is how did it help India's cause for them to be prodding and poking all the way virtually until the 50th over? Because at the end of the day, would they have felt that they were in with a reasonable chance of defending 240? And I suppose we could say, yes, when they got those three Olympics. But again, it's Australia you're coming up against. And you don't expect whether it's a Travis head, whether it's whoever else in the middle order who's coming certainly with Maxwell waiting in the wings. They're not going to be prodding and poking. They're going to be looking for every opportunity. To capitalize. And remember, when the toss was taken, it was with some surprise to the audience and maybe some of the commentators that Pat Cummins chose to bowl first. But again, they were mindful of a lot of factors. I don't think they were affected in India's exaggerated caution. But with all of that tied into it, it just seemed to energize Australia to know that India were on the back foot and so very cautious, so early in the World Cup final. Yeah. You know what's interesting fans? I remember after Australia lost the first two matches of this World Cup. And I saw individuals saying that Australia on the Pat Cummins is a shadow of the Australian signs of all even Australia under Steve Smith or the great captains before him. But somehow this Pat Cummins Australian side managed to go and beaten from that point and did what no one else was able to do in this tournament, which was to dismiss India. And again, the thing is Ricardo, if you look back on the comments, the expert opinions, the perspectives on Australia after that loss in their opening match to India and they even have your loss to South Africa, the comments were this is a team that is lost. This is a team that can't find their feet. This is a team that is lost. This is a team that can't find their captain who hasn't played too many one day internationals. And again, it's the same knee jerk reactionary perspective that you've got when India went to Australia and was shot off for 36 in the first test of the format series and then we had to go home for the birth of his child and everyone was saying it's going to be 4-0. Well, again, that overlooks the fact that if you're in an individual sport, it is never a given that it's going to be a downward trajectory all the way. Australia are a champion team. They are world-test champions. They held on to keep the ashes in England. They won the World T20 in 2021 and even as they are celebrating the sixth World Cup success, you can rest assured that they are preparing for another assault on a world title in June in about 30 seconds. I have said this, I took some flat for it when I said it before the start of the tournament that I am not necessarily a big fan of the tournament because I believe that throughout the course of a tournament you need those high points where teams are being eliminated and that happening at different stages and you don't get that with this format. I don't recall if you had said but I just wanted to get your attention on this particular format. The tournament is too long, it's too boring, it takes away all of the drama and basically it's like Champions League football because none of the big teams want to be knocked out and the television broadcasts want their revenue so that's why you and you are nonsense like this. Yeah I agree with you, Mariah. All right, well we are moving along. Farz earlier on Monday, the West Sydney squad for their first time in the world and they won the first time in the world by cricket West Indies. 21-year-old Barbadian Mathew Ford earned a maiden call-up to the squad. Sheffield and Rutherford is in line for his ODI debut while Darren Bravo was again left out. Let's take a look at the full squad. Shayhopus captain, Alzarri Joseph will be the vice-captain, Alec Ben-Rutherford, Ramario Shepard and Oshane Thomas. So Farz, your thoughts on this squad? Mixed messages from the West City selector. You mentioned Darren Bravo. That was a big discussion here in Trinidad today but because of course parochialism and similarity. You know you know it good. Will Darren Bravo be selected? I didn't think that he should have been because he's 34 years of age going on 35. If you're talking about building to a world cup, he'll be 38 and I don't think that is the age where someone could be a factor in a world cup. By the same token, Keon Otley will be 35 before the end of the year. So sorry 34 before the end of the year. So we are at 37 going on 38. Do the selectors see him and you have a pretty ordinary tournament. You have 134 not out in the regional super 50 for the eventual champions. But do they see him as someone who is a player who can lead them to the next world cup. As someone in the batting lineup. So that to me is debatable. What is also interesting apart from Matthew Ford coming in, chef in Rutherford coming in. You've got Shane Dorridge back from the wilderness. Remember he left the West Indies team in New Zealand at the end of 2020 for personal reasons and then just seem to lose his focus on the game. He's back in now with Joshua De Silva is leading the West Indies A team in South Africa. But also very interestingly, we learn from the selectors that Nicholas Puran isn't interested in playing 50 over cricket anymore. He's focusing on T20s. Jason Holder, at least for the moment, isn't interested in playing 50 over cricket anymore. He's focusing on test cricket and T20s. So we seem to be in a situation now where there's a tremendous level of uncertainty and at the wrong time because everyone else is going to be gearing up to get ready for qualification or whatever it is for 2027. And you have in the selection of this squad what appears to be as I see it mixed signals from the West Indies selectors. Yes, as well, this team will have to continue to monitor them very closely, see how they do and good point about the age because if something is not good for one player then it should not be good for the other. But that's all the time we have for this segment. I want to thank you so much for stopping by. We'll chat again soon. Thank you. Alright, Fazir Muhammad there, our cricket analyst. Let's take a quick break. We'll be right back.