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Warner Reveals Backroom Discussion Behind Australia Chasing In World Cup Final

image-lp805i2qPat Cummins won the toss and opted to bowl (Twitter)

David Warner revealed the back and forth of discussions behind Australia's genius call to bowl first and chase in the final of the ICC World Cup 2023 in Ahmedabad against India. 

Going against the old adage of batting first and putting runs on the board in big-pressure finals, skipper Pat Cummins shocked the traditionalists by opting to bowl upon winning the toss against Rohit Sharma's men.

As it panned out, it was the decision he would grin about the rest of his life as it paved the way for him to become the fifth Australian captain to lift a men's World Cup title.

Bowling in the afternoon on an extensively dry surface at the Motera Stadium helped Australia restrict the star-studded Indian batting line-up to 240 before chasing the target successfully in wet conditions with dew falling under lights. 

Warner On How Change Of Heart Helped Australia Ace The Final 

Speaking to legendary former South African middle-order maestro AB de Villiers on his YouTube channel, Warner revealed, however, that Australia initially didn't want to field first considering the weight of the occasion and an Indian side that had crashed various oppositions in the second half on multiple instances during the World Cup. 

However, a change of heart against the traditional thought allowed Australia to boss the conditions on offer in Ahmedabad, having previously assessed the nature of the environs in Gujarat in the tournament when they defeated England after batting first but had to overcome heavy under-lights dew. 

"The night before the final, they were discussing for 1-2 hours, what we should do, looking at the stats and knowledge - it was saying, bat first, put runs on the board but then on match day, we asked the question again & majority were saying to chase," said Warner.

Warner made just seven runs in the final but was one of the heroes of the Aussie's parade to become the six-time champions with 535 runs in 11 innings.