India would have won World Cup if match was played here: Akhilesh Yadav

LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has said that India would have won against Australia in the final of the ICC World Cup if there was a change of venue. He is of the opinion that Rohit Sharma and his team would have won the title if the final was played in Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh instead of Ahmedabad in Gujarat.

"The match (World Cup 2023 final) that took place in Gujarat, if it had happened in Lucknow, they (team India) would have got blessings of so many...if the match had happened there (Lucknow), team India would have got the blessings of Lord Vishnu and Atal Bihari Vajpayee and India would have won. Now it can be heard that there was some issue with the pitch," he said.

At the same time, Australia overcame India's challenge in the World Cup final with ease. After losing the toss and batting first, India managed to score only 240 runs in 50 overs. Despite a shaky start in reply, Travis Head's brilliant century saw Australia win in the 43rd over and secure their sixth world title.

Even before the World Cup hangover comes to an end, India and Australia will clash in a five-match T20 series starting in Visakhapatnam on Thursday. The second match of the series will be played in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday, November 26. India led by Suryakumar Yadav will face Aussies led by Matthew Wade. Malayali player Sanju Samson was rumoured to get a place in the squad, but it did not happen.