Kolkata/IBNS: The politicisation of India's defeat against Australia in the Cricket World Cup 2023 final continued after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said the men in blue would have won the match if it was held in Kolkata or Mumbai.

The final was held at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Gujarat's Ahmedabad.

Addressing her workers at an event, Mamata said, "I still believe India would have won the final if it was played in Kolkata or Wankhede (Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai). Our players are excellent in sports but they have been made to wear saffron jerseys!

"The players were asked to wear saffron jerseys during playing days but they resisted. Still a patch of saffron colour has been used in the playing jerseys."

"Wherever the sinners will go...," the Chief Minister added.

Soon after India suffered the heartbreak in an almost deja vu of the 2003 World Cup final, Mamata's top minister and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim had blamed the stadium, which is named after the Prime Minister and is located in Modi's homestate Gujarat, and its pitch.

"I think the biggest mistake was hosting the final match at the Narendra Modi Stadium. What kind of a pitch was that? The result would have been different if the match was played at Eden Gardens," Hakim had said.

Congress top leader Rahul Gandhi even went to the extent of calling the Prime Minister "panauti" or "ill omen", a term very much trendy on social media.

Addressing a rally in election-bound Rajasthan on Tuesday, Rahul accused PM Modi of trying to distract from the issues.

"He comes on TV and says 'Hindu-Muslim' and sometimes goes to a cricket match... Our boys would have won the World Cup but the panauti lost the match for us," he said in Hindi.

Responding to the same, senior BJP leader and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the former Congress president's remarks about the Prime Minister were "shameful, condemnable and disgraceful".

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrashekar also hit out at Gandhi and said the comments were signs of desperation and mental instability.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Chandrashekar said Rahul Gandhi is now 55 years old and had never worked a day in his life, and whose family had "exploited the country like parasites".