Team India find themselves in a spot of bother in the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia ahead of the start of play on Day 4. Pat Cummins’s side currently hold a 296-run lead after Stumps on Day 3 as they finished with 123/4 on the board with two days remaining in the one-off Test.
The Australian team will look to bat for as long as they can giving India a daunting prospect of chasing down a massive total at the Oval. Rohit Sharma’s side conceded 469 runs in the first innings, and in their first innings, the Indian team was reduced to 71/4, only for Ajinkya Rahane and Shardul Thakur’s 109-run partnership to salvage their side as they narrowly avoided a follow-on.
Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has criticised Indian coach Rahul Dravid for some of the decision-making during the WTC final. Ali said that Rohit’s side lost the match as they decided to bowl and now the only way to stop the Australian team is to hope for a miracle.
“India lost the match the moment they chose to bowl worrying about the first two hours. And the kind of bowling that was on display was just like IPL. By lunch, the Indian bowlers appeared so happy as if they’d won the match,” said the ex-Pakistan batter on his YouTube channel.
“All India can do now is hope to get them out cheaply and hope for a miracle in the fourth innings. During the 120 overs that India fielded, I could see only 2-3 players being fit – Rahane, Kohli and Jadeja. The rest looked tired,” claimed Ali.
The cricketer-turned-coach also took a brutal dig at Dravid claiming that he couldn’t understand India’s approach.
“I am a huge Rahul Dravid fan, have always been and will remain. He is a class player, a legend. But as a coach, he is absolutely zero. You prepared turning pitches on India. Just answer me this. When India travelled to Australia, were there similar wickets? They had bouncy pitches, right? God knows what he was thinking,” added Ali.
Australia will be looking to further cement their position in the Test as they look to give India a daunting total to chase for the coveted ICC trophy.
Comments
0 comment