Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has stated that for the Indian team to compete with the changing landscape of Test cricket, they need to put up huge scores on the board in the first innings of Test matches.
He said that putting up scores of huge scores over 400 runs in the first innings consistently and advised India to do the same if they want things to turn around. This comes after India suffered a thrashing in the final of the 2023 ICC World Test Championship against Australia.
In the final, Australia, after put in to bat first, scored 469 runs in the first innings. India responded with 296. Then, Australia posted 270/8 declared and asked India to chase 444, in which Rohit Sharma’s men folded for 234.
“Aggression is fine but you also need performance with that. If you see the five-six years between 2001 and 2006, India’s batters scored 500-600 runs in big venues, whether it was Sydney, Brisbane, Headingley, Nottingham, Oval, Peshawar, Islamabad, or Lahore, due to which they put the opposition team under pressure.
So I feel the Indian team will have to do that somewhere or the other. I understand cricket has changed slightly between what it was 10 years ago and now, the situations and wickets have changed, but India will have to see that they score 350-400 runs in the first innings in Test cricket," Ganguly said on Star Sports.
“India will have to score 350-400 runs in the first innings in Test cricket”- Sourav Ganguly
With India losing back-to-back WTC finals, questions are being asked about whether the players lack confidence when it comes to knockouts or title clashes.
However, Ganguly refuted such claims and said that the current Indian team doesn’t lack belief and hinted that the heavy workload could be taking its toll.
“I don’t agree that this team does not have the belief. We played well in England in 2021 and before that, we played good cricket in Australia in 2020-21, where Rishabh Pant won the series on the last day, I feel that happens with belief only. They play so much cricket and travel a lot, so it probably goes slightly back for a short time, so they need to recoup that and bring it back, which I feel is possible," he said.
India will next face West Indies in two Tests starting their WTC 2023-25 cycle.
