Azhar slams India Women for serving CWG gold medal on a platter to Australia, leaves fans divided on Twitter

Birmingham, Aug 8: The Indian Women's Cricket Team came tantalizingly close to scripting history by winning a gold medal in women's cricket on Commonwealth Games debut but fell short by 9 runs against mighty Australians in the final at Edgbaston on Sunday (August 8).

While many are praising the Women In Blue for winning the silver medal, former India captain Mohammed Azharuddin had a different opinion. The legendary batter from Hyderabad slammed Indian batters for serving the game on a platter to Meg Lanning & Co. with their 'rubbish' batting effort.

The 59-year-old former cricketer took to his Twitter handle and expressed his disappointment towards the senseless batting effort from the Women in Blue in the game which they should have won.

"Rubbish batting by the Indian team. No common sense. Gave away a winning game on a platter," tweeted Azhar.

Rubbish batting by the Indian team. No common sense. Gave away a winning game on a platter. #INDvsAUS #WomensCricket #CWG22

— Mohammed Azharuddin (@azharflicks) August 7, 2022

While many cricket fans were irked by the former captain's comments, there were also those who agreed with his opinion and went on claiming that the Indian cricket team, both men and women, have become chokers. India's senior team last won an ICC tournament back in 2013 when the men's team lifted the ICC Champions Trophy under MS Dhoni's leadership in England.

Since then, the Men and Women in Blue have made it to the finals and semi-finals of an ICC event on ten occasions, but could never win the title.

In the CWG final against Australia, the Indian eves lost the game despite having dominated it for the most part of it. They failed to hold on to their nerves in the death overs in the run chase of 162 and were bundled out for 153 in 19.3 overs.

It was a Deja vu for Harmanpreet and Co. who had suffered similar inexplicable batting collapses during the T20 World Cup finals defeat against Australia in 2020 and the 2017 ODI World Cup final in England.

With 50 needed off the last six overs with eight wickets in hand, India seemed to be on course to title triumph but lost the last five wickets for 13 runs owing to some poor shot selections. Harmanpreet and Jemimah Rodrigues strung a 96-run partnership but both ended up playing some poor shots to make their way back to the dugout. They eventually, had to settle with a silver medal.