India’s performance in World Test Championship final against Australia shows they are not well prepared
Posted Date – 11:59 PM, Fri – 06/09/23
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London: India’s performance against Australia in the World Test Championship final showed that their preparation was not ideal, said Ricky Ponting, who specifically raised questions about their undercooked pacer readiness.
India are staring at another unfavorable result in the ICC finals after losing a 173-run lead to Australia in the first innings.
While Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami played well in the game, Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur looked a bit rusty as they did not get much supervision in the IPL.
Thakur bowled 21 balls throughout the IPL, while Umesh bowled 19, fewer than they did in Australia’s first innings here.
“I think they’ve been beaten so far. Their preparation may not be ideal because all their players are in the IPL for a one-off test. You know, very few Australian boys are there. Very few Australian boys Didn’t do anything in three months,” Ponting told PTI during a select media interaction at The Oval.
At the end of the day, Ponting said it came down to personal preparation.
“I don’t know (the impact on Indian batsmen). If you ask Virat, he’ll say it’s perfect for him because he has all kinds of runs. If you ask Rahane, if there is no IPL , he wouldn’t have been selected for the game. So it would work both ways.
“I had a chat with Shardul this morning and he said he was starting to feel the pinch because he wasn’t bowling enough. He was bowling in a day and a half, he was bowling throughout the IPL.” The team looked rusty.
“I’m kind of emphasizing going into this game what is the best preparation; is it better to play some decent quality cricket in the IPL, or is it better to just rest at home and do some non-competitive training. So far, it’s shown both teams The team is a little rusty.
“One-off races and this time of year, there’s never going to be an ideal time for anybody to prepare. But you have to do everything you can to prepare and be ready and try to execute it on the day. I mean, Travis A good example is Head, who hasn’t picked up a bat in months.
“It depends on the individual,” he said, referring to 100 per cent of Hyde’s counter-attack, which helped Australia to 469 points.
Given Rahane’s performance, selectors have to make big decision
Ajinkya Rahane scored 89 points on a strong speed offense and had Ponting wonder why he wasn’t on the team in the first place in a comeback game.
“He played beautifully. I said on lunch break, when you can play like that, you wonder why he wasn’t drafted to the team … He’s always been a classy-looking player, Great defensive player who we know has a track record that shows he plays his best when his team needs him most.
“He had very few Tests against West Indies. If he succeeds in those games and (Shreyas) Iyer and KL Rahul come back fit, then the selectors will have some big decisions to make,” said the former Australia captain, who was WTC ambassador, commenting on the final.
Ponting added that he would not make any changes to the current WTC format and was all about a one-off match rather than a best-of-three final.
“I love it (the one-off format). I wish I was there when I was playing. It’s a World Cup final over five days. They’ve been two of the best teams in the world for the last two years. .”
