Former all-rounder Irfan Pathan believes Team India should have played one more batsman in their line-up for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand.
The Virat Kohli-led side suffered a comprehensive eight-wicket defeat at the hands of New Zealand in the WTC final at Southampton last week.
For the marquee game, the Indian team preferred five specialists batsmen in addition to the wicketkeeper while they fielded two spinning all-rounders and three pacers.
"I think India played with fewer batsmen -- which I highlighted before the ICC World Test Championship final. I feel there was a need for one more batsman in the team. We do not have quality fast-bowling all-arounder -- which New Zealand possesses -- and it is hard to find one. Now, If we talk from a proper cricketing point of view -- what went wrong for India? I think the first innings went great, but Team India's batting in the second inning was disappointing," said Pathan on Star Sports' show 'Follow The Blues'.
"The ball wasn't swinging as much in the second innings, and Indian batsmen could have batted more responsibly. I am aware of Rishabh Pant's capabilities as a batsman and how he can hit balls very well, but that does not mean you hit a fast bowler outside -- a sense of responsibility was required. Indian batters were using a lot of pull shots on bouncers; instead of using their body and this showed a lack of commitment. These questions are tough, but I hope Indian batsmen have the strength to give their answers in the future. And now we are back on the same topic -- Kiwi batsmen were able to make 140 runs with the loss of two wickets, but our Indian team lost eight wickets building the same score," he added.
India’s bowling unit was comprised of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah.
According to Pathan, the attack lacked match practice heading into the WTC final.
"By the time we (Team India) started fielding for the second session, our bowlers were already tired. This happened because India didn't get enough match practice. When a team gets less match practice, they don't have the kind of match fitness required for a particular game. I feel this will improve eventually. I think Indian bowlers should've opted for more bouncers -- the way Neil Wagner did. And improvement is required in length, because we witnessed a lot of cut shots and back-foot punches from Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor," he remarked.
The inaugural WTC final saw two full days of play being abandoned due to rain and there were fewer chances of a result in the favour of either side. But Day 6, which was a reserve day, produced the result after New Zealand bowlers bundled out India for 170 in the second innings.
Chasing 139 to win, the Kiwis were in a spot of bother at 44/2 but the duo of Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor stitched an unbeaten 96-run stand to take their team over the line.
