LSG vs CSK: 'India could've won World Cup 2023' - KL Rahul expresses regret, shouldering blame for India's loss to Australia

India star KL Rahul has said he still regrets his batting approach in the ICC World Cup final between India and Australia in Ahmedabad last year.

India's dream run in the competition came to an end in a heartbreaking manner as Australia thrashed them by six wickets to lift the World Cup for a record-extending sixth time. Asked to bat first, India could only post a modest total of 240 runs in 50 overs. In reply, Australia chased down the total in 43 overs thanks to a stunning century from Travis Head. Marnus Labuschagne also scored a crucial fifty for the Kangaroos.

For India, KL Rahul was the top-scorer and was the only player to reach the 60-run mark. However, he still faced criticism from several quarters for his batting performance as he scored 66 runs in 107 balls. The right-handed batsman could hit only one boundary during his knock.

He came out to bat in the 11th over when India were reeling at 81 for 3. Although India had lost three wickets, they were scoring at more than seven runs per over. KL Rahul expectedly took his time to settle down but failed to accelerate after getting set. He completed his fifty off 86 deliveries to score the slowest fifty of the 2023 World Cup,

KL Rahul on his World Cup performance:

KL Rahul recently opened up on his World Cup final performance. Speaking to his India teammate Ravichandran Ashwin in a video posted on the latter's YouTube channel, the Karnataka star stated that he still regrets his performance and would like to make amends for it.

KL Rahul came up with the answer after Ashwin asked him:  "If I could give an opportunity to give a time machine & review one decision to correct it all over again, what will it be?"

In reply, the star batsman said that he could not decide whether to attack Mitchell Starc or take a cautious approach against his reverse swing. In the end, KL Rahul ended up edging Starc's delivery to Josh Inglis in the 42nd over and departed. He stated that he could have helped the team score 30 more runs had he managed to play till the end.

“The first thing that comes to my mind is the 2023 World Cup final in Ahmedabad against Australia. I was just stuck in that moment on whether I (should) take down Mitchell Starc. It (ball) was reversing, and he was bowling from a difficult angle for me to attack him. So, I was just stuck in between, on whether to attack and play him and take a chance... and in that confusion, I ended up nicking the ball and getting out at a crucial time,” Rahul said. 

“I felt like I had continued that innings and gone on to play the rest of the 12 overs (8) or whatever was left, we could have probably gotten 30-40 runs more, and we could've had a World Cup in our hands. That's something I regret,” said Rahul further.