India had a "mental issue" in their Cricket World Cup final defeat to Australia, according to their former captain Madan Lal.

Travis Head's 137 propelled Australia to a six-wicket victory in Sunday's final atNarendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Head's knock is the second-highest score by an opener in a men's World Cup final.

And Madan Lal, who played for India between 1974 and 1987, believes the tournament hosts had a mental slip at the most inopportune moment.

"It is a little bit of a mental issue, you can say that," he told Stats Perform.

"In a final, if you make mistakes, then you have no chance of winning.You have to make less mistakes [than the opposition] as that isthe only way you aregoing to win.

"You can say [India are having] mental issuesbecause in the last 10 ICC tournamentswe've played in the finals [knockout rounds], but we didn't win any. That can be addressed.

Definitely [this was their best chance]because of the way the team was playing andthe way their bowling attack was performing.

"I was thinking that India would go through and win, but at the end of the day, when Australia came into the final, then I said it was a 50-50 game. It's not a game that can be easily won.

"I think it's a bit sad. India had done very well. They won all their ten matches, butinthe last one, they couldnt cross the line."

Virat Kohli starred for India in the World Cup, scoring 765 runs.

He tallied a half-century in the final, having plundered a ton in the semi-final, whichtook him above India legend Sachin Tendulkar in the all-time rankings for ODI centuries.

"Hes fantastic, a world champion, a superb player," Madan Lal said of Kohli.

"The good thing about him is the way he looks after himself, the way he approaches the game, his attitude.

"Plus, if you see when he's batting, we always know that if he bats for 15 minutes, he will get 100 runs.

"And another good thing about him is that he looks at the scoreboard. He plays according to the situation of the game, like Head did [in the final]."

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India's World Cup capitulation caused by 'mental issue', suggests ... - sportsmax.tv