There is little room for experimentation in the WTC final, with a combination of talent, experience and form being the only criteria to go by. , Photo Credit: AP
_ Begin after (fill in the appropriate word depending on your political and sports instincts: funny, bizarre, inspiring, surprising, embarrassing, haughty, painful, moving, spirited, crazy…) ahmedabad test, it was surprising that Virat Kohli won the player of the match award. The real impact players were paraded around in what looked like an oversize shoe with chants that were not ‘Kohli, Kohli’ as they usually are in an Indian stadium.
It is unlikely that the tough tableau will be repeated when India next take on Australia World Test Championship final at the Oval in London. But this will not be the only change. India will be deprived of the edge they had at home and in the world Jasprit Bumrah’s absenceTheir pace attack will become very weak. They will have to choose between two spinners or one as they usually do in overseas Tests.
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India does not play any red-ball cricket before the final which is exactly a week after the IPL final. Players are professional enough to adjust in today’s cricket. India is planning to use Dukes balls in the IPL – as will be used in England – and also to send players in batches as their teams opt out of the IPL. It makes sense.
India will also be without three key performers from the last WTC final which they lost to New Zealand: Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant and Ishant Sharma. India then went in with three fast bowlers and two spinners, a combination they may be forced to play this time around as well.
In a one-off final there is little room for experimentation, with a combination of talent, experience and form being the only criteria to go by. Perhaps even attempting an inspired selection based on a fast bowler’s guesswork is unlikely. The World Championship Final is the culmination of two years of cricket; It cannot be seen as a starting point.
The batting slots are more or less taken with the only option in the top half between the experienced KL Rahul and Shubman Gill (who opens in the final over). KS Bharat has done enough to retain his spot as wicket-keeper despite his poor performance in the home series.
Australia in England will be a different proposition from Australia in India, and if all is fit, will probably go into the final as slim favorites given their superior bowling, especially the pacers.
two benefits
Of India’s two achievements from the home series (Kohli’s big century was not a revelation), Gill’s form and class are a likely indication that he will take over from Kohli as India’s premier batsman, as the latter did with Sachin Tendulkar. was taken. This has been everyone’s expectation for some time now and it’s good to see the inevitability of it coming true.
The second achievement, Axar Patel as a batsman has been an eye-opener. It will be interesting to see how India handles him to get the best out of him. It took a while for Ravindra Jadeja to establish himself as a genuine all-rounder in the top-class, and it can only benefit Indian cricket if the five-year-old continues like this. His role needs to be clarified, his performances outside India need to be studied before he is seen as a replacement for Jadeja in future.
nature of pitches
India have done exceptionally well to win four consecutive Test series against Australia, two in each country. The batting-friendly pitch in Ahmedabad put the former into perspective. Are slow turners who guarantee a result (even in three days) better for the game or is it better to have batting tracks that last ten days and guarantee a draw?
Taken to extremes, one kills the batsman, the other destroys the bowlers. That is why Rohit Sharma’s century in the first Test and Ravichandran Ashwin’s six for 90 in the final Test were the best batting and bowling performances of the series, respectively.
The ODI series starts in Mumbai from Friday. The caravan goes on. One carrying cricketers and the other carrying politicians after they came together in Ahmedabad.