Questions were raised over India’s preparation for the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final as most of the players featured in the recently-concluded IPL 2023 season.
Moreover, no practice match was arranged for Team India once they landed in England after a two-month long IPL season.
As it turned out, the Rohit Sharma-led side failed to rise to the occasion and their preparation has once again become a topic of debate.
Opting to field first, Indian bowlers were expected to get the better of the Australian batting line-up considering the overcast conditions and a green-tinged pitch at The Oval. However, it turned out exactly opposite as the duo of Travis Head (163) and Steve Smith (121) made a mockery of the Indian bowling attack to propel Australia to a massive 469/10 in the first innings.
In reply, India’s first innings folded for 296 as they conceded a substantial first-innings lead of 173 runs to Australia.
After the third day’s play, former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting said India’s performance in the WTC final has showed that their preparation was not ideal.
“I think they have been outplayed so far. Their preparation wasn’t probably ideal coming into a one-off Test what with all their players being at the IPL. You know, few of the Australian boys were there. Few of the Australian boys hadn’t done anything for three months either,” Ponting told PTI.
“I don’t know (effect on Indian batters). If you ask Virat, he would say that it’s been perfect for him because he has got all sorts of runs. If you asked Rahane, he wouldn’t have been picked for this match without the IPL. So it’s going to work both ways.
“I had a chat with Shardul this morning, he said he’s started to feel the pinch because he has not been able to get enough bowling. The over that he has bowled in a day and a half, he bowled in the whole of IPL,” he added.
At the close of play on Day 3, Australia were 123/4 in their second innings, stretching their lead to 296 runs with Marnus Labuschagne (41*) and Cameron Green (7*) unbeaten in the middle.
According to Ricky Ponting, both the teams have looked rusty.
“I sort of underlined coming into this game what was the best preparation; was it out and playing pretty high quality competitive cricket in the IPL or was it better off being at home and resting up and doing a bit of non competitive training. So far it’s shown that both teams have been a bit rusty,” Ponting stated.
“One-off game and in the time of the year, there’s never going to be ideal preparation time for anybody. But you got to do the best you can to get prepared and get ready and try and execute it on the day. I mean, Travis Head is a great example, hasn’t picked up a bat for a few months. It comes down to the individual,” he explained.
Ajinkya Rahane, who was making a comeback to Test cricket after 18 months, starred with the bat for India in the first innings. Rahane arrived in the middle when the team was reeling at 50/3 and he went on to score 89, adding a crucial 109-run stand for the seventh wicket with Shardul Thakur (51).
Given how Rahane has played, Ponting feels selectors will have to take big calls.
“He played beautifully. I said at the lunch break when you can play like that, you wonder why he hasn’t been picked in the team… he has always been a classy looking player, player that has a good defence, we know his record suggests that he plays at his best when his team needs him the most.
“He has got few more Tests against the West Indies. If he makes runs in those games, with (Shreyas) Iyer and KL Rahul getting fit, the selectors will have some big decisions to make,” he said.
(With PTI Inputs)
