According to Rahul Dravid, the head coach of India, they had correctly assessed the bowling on the “green wicket,” but the 469 runs scored put India on the back foot. After that, in the Test final played at The Oval, India only tried to make a comeback.
After Australia’s 209-run victory, Dravid told Star Sports, “This wasn’t a wicket of 469 runs. In the last session of the first day, we spent 157 runs without taking any wickets, which is disappointing. We knew we had to bowl in a certain line and length, the length wasn’t wrong, but our line was wayward, which gave Travis Head a lot of room and put us behind.”
Dravid expressed regret for India’s collapsed wickets on the fourth day, chasing 444 runs. Rohit Sharma got out while attempting a sweep against Nathan Lyon, Cheteshwar Pujara lost his wicket while trying to ramp, and Shubman Gill’s catch became a subject of debate.
Dravid said, “Yesterday, I feel we could have been more cautious with the three or four shots we played on this pitch. The target was difficult, but there was hope. You constantly fight, no matter how far behind you are. We have fallen behind several times in the last two years, but we have made comebacks.”
“The good thing was that even though we were lagging in the test, we didn’t bow down and fought well. We needed a big partnership on the final day. We had players, but Australia was ahead, they bowled well and took several wickets, and that could happen.”
Why did India choose to bowl in the Test final?
When asked about the decision to bowl first, Dravid said that the weather played an important role. However, it happened that after the first hour, the entire test was played in scorching heat, and on the fourth and fifth days, the temperature was around 30 degrees Celsius.
Dravid said, “On the morning of the first day, there was a lot of grass on the pitch and clouds in the sky. In England, we thought that batting becomes easier, especially on the fourth and fifth days. Many teams win the toss and choose to bowl first. When the score was 76 for 3, we thought it was a good decision, but everything changed in the next two sessions.”
“If we had restricted them to 300, it would have been a good score, and we would have stayed in the match. The third and fourth innings are crucial. It’s the same in England. In the previous year at Headingley, the fourth innings became easier, and England easily scored 378 runs. We knew that 444 runs were a lot, but if we had stopped them at 320, we could have reached the target.”
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Dravid was asked again if he felt that the top five batsmen needed to perform well. He admitted that these experienced players themselves would be disappointed with their performance, and the difficult pitches have also been a reason for the decline in average in the past two years.
“These boys have won twice in Australia and a Test in England,” Dravid noted. Yes, they would agree that this fell short of their expectations, but we are working on it. Some of the wickets have become pretty difficult. This was a nice wicket, but the other conditions were difficult.”
“When you look towards the Test final, you look at qualification. Many times, there is pressure on you to score in the match, and it can be quite difficult. Many times, it.
Why does India need to move forward by creating spin-friendly pitches at home?
In the context of difficult pitches, Harbhajan Singh asked Dravid whether India needs to move forward by creating spin-friendly pitches at home. While spinners benefit from such pitches, it becomes challenging for batsmen, and they struggle to play fast bowling overseas. Dravid acknowledged that the pitch on which the first ball turned wasn’t ideal and the level of the WTC final and the pressure to win necessitated taking such a risk.
“No one loves a wicket where the first ball rotates, but when you’re playing for points in the WTC final, you’ve got to do it.” Everyone expects you to qualify, wants you to qualify, and wants to see you play in the final. In such cases, you must sometimes take chances.”
“We are not the only team taking risks. You can see it in Australia, when South Africa toured Australia last year, you can see the wicket at Brisbane. Australia, too, is accustomed to playing five-day matches, but now they are playing on such wickets where the match concludes in three or four days.”
“When you look at the WTC, you also look at qualification. Often there is pressure on you to score points in every match, and sometimes it can be difficult. Sometimes you become a victim of the pitch. While I believe that some pitches in India have become difficult, we had to take this risk.”
Was there enough time between the IPL 2023 and the World Test Championship final?
After a week of practice, India entered the Test. The IPL final was held on May 29. Many of the most needed players had already arrived in England. Following a brief camp in Arundel, the squad began training in London on June 3. When asked if it was ideal, Dravid was firm again.
“I don’t want to be pleased with my preparations as a coach, but this is the reality that I have faced.” The timetable was quite constrained. When it comes to international cricket, if you have three weeks before the tour and play two practice matches, you are well prepared.”
“We don’t have anything like that. We must do what we can, with no excuses or complaints. I would like to congratulate Australia. They outperformed us on all five days. We don’t want to make excuses; we need to look in the mirror and see what we can improve on; that is our endeavour.”
