Author: Joydeep Mukherjee

By 3pm IST, loads of Indians – some at the Kennington Oval, close to the Thames river, others all over the world in different time zones – were glued to the action from the fifth day of the World Test Championship (WTC) final. At 3:29pm, Virat Kohli fell, and took with him a lot of the hope of India winning this ultimate Test. Now, before everyone castigates Kohli for the extravagant drive, spare a thought for where that shot came from. The previous couple of balls had jagged back in, and going by that template, he pushed at it. Yes,…

A target of 444 to win the World Test Championship is as tough as it gets. When they came out to bat, India had two options. To try and get the runs, or try and bat out time. Sometimes, if you take the second option on board too quickly, it plays into the hands of the opposition because they can then have men in catching positions, and your chances of getting dismissed increase. As a team, you can feel stuck, with the opposition crawling all over you. India took the first option, came out and played some shots. What that…

If you fight back and get hit, it hurts for a little while. If you don’t fight back, it hurts forever. The Indians did not want the memory of this match to hurt forever. India were far behind in the game when day three began and were still behind as it ended, but the fightback was there for everyone to see and savour. One team will win and one has to lose, that’s a given. But a contest was what everyone wanted, and there certainly was one. KS Bharat was made to realise that Test cricket is a brutal game…

This was Test-match cricket at its best. It was so heartening to see the Indian bowlers making a comeback on day two of the World Test Championship final. It was obvious that Paras Mhambrey, the bowling coach, had a real good chat with the bowlers, and drilled into them where they erred on the opening day, and how they could mend that. And mend they did. India did get some luck because both David Warner, on day one, and Travis Head, who was looking good for a double-hundred, were stifled down the leg side. Now that is a mode…

The World Test Championship final is finally here, after all the discussions and predictions that have done the rounds in cricketing circles. There were questions galore. Were the Indians ready? Would they suffer an IPL hangover? Were the Aussies better prepared? Who was India’s best option with the big gloves, KS Bharat or the dashing Ishan Kishan? India won an important toss, or so it seemed. Conditions were gloomy, with grass on the pitch. So when Rohit Sharma looked up to the sky and down at the strip, his choice was a simple one – bowl. And Pat…