1. Strategy – They chose to bowl first. The pitch was dry and would help their spinners. In the evening dew will help their batsmen.

2. Fielding – While batting, and now bowling to some extent, are glamorous jobs in cricket, fielding is not recognised enough. Every bowl, every wicket, and every run are important. The Aussies fielded well. They always did.

3. “Never lose before you have lost” spirit – Losing the first three wickets did not bother them. Travis Head slammed 137 off 120 balls. Marnus Labuschagne played a patient knock of 57 off 109 balls.

4. The experience and discipline of continuous practice have paid off Aussies in several world cups including this one.

It was a bit of strategy and terrific execution.

What did I learn?

1. Get your strategy right. Otherwise, you will blame the execution. Winning the toss is not in your hands (Read government policies, customer preference, geo-political issues, etc.). Don’t blame the environment. Strategize for the given environment. Just go ahead and execute well, better than the competition.

What is the learning on executing well?

2. Fielding – Every player in the team is important. Every rupee and every hour are important.

a. Discipline and hard work are critical, besides smart work.
b. The competing team is also smart.
c. Success depends on who works harder, and which team is more disciplined.

3. “Never lose before you have lost” – Try hard. Try harder. Put your best players to set the tone.

4. Combination of heavy hitters and patient scorers in every team

5. Experience and honing skills continuously are critical to success. What was your learning?