While the India top-order batting completely failed, bowlers like Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur looked rusty at the Oval.
London: Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting stated India’s performance at the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) final has shown their preparation ahead of the mega final wasn’t ideal and also raised questions about the readiness of their undercooked pacers.
After winning the toss, India captain Rohit Sharma sent Australia to bat. Riding on centuries from Steve Smith and Travis Head, Australia posted a mammoth 469 in the first innings. In reply, India were all out for 296, thanks to fifties from Shardul Thakur and Ajinkya Rahane.
While Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami looked potent in the game, the likes of Umesh Yadav and Thakur were rusty having not got a lot of overs under their belt in the Indian Premier League.
Thakur bowled 21 overs in the whole of IPL 2023 and Umesh bowled 19, less than what they bowled in Australia’s first innings here. “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,” Ponting told PTI on Friday.
“You know, few of the Australian boys were there. Few of the Australian boys hadn’t done anything for three months either.” Ponting said at the end of the day it comes down to individual preparation.
“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.”
“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,” added Ponting. Ajinkya Rahane’s 89 against a formidable pace attack and in a comeback game makes Ponting wonders why he was not in the team in the first place.
“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,” said the former Australia captain who is a WTC ambassador and is commentating on the final.
Ponting added that he would not change anything to the current WTC format and is all for a one-off game 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 have clearly been the best two teams in the world over the last two years.”