– Subhayan Chakraborty
There were smiles and relief in the Indian camp as the home team overcame the Australian challenge to win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2-1, retaining the coveted silverware for the fourth time on the bounce. With the series win, India made it to the finals of ICC World Test Championship where they will take on the Aussies in a one-off Test following a gruelling cycle of two years, at The Oval in London in June.
Though the Rohit Sharma-led outfit required a bit of help, a last-ball thriller in Christchurch, wherein New Zealand completed a photo-finish to dump Sri Lanka’s hopes of toppling India for the finale race, it was well worth it.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly on Tuesday congratulated the team for qualifying for the WTC Final as ‘Dada’ sounded confident of India’s chances in the grand finale despite the hectic schedule of IPL 2023 and change in conditions in England.
“Firstly, let me congratulate India for beating Australia. Secondly, India have beaten Australia in Australia, they have beaten them here. So there’s no reason why they will not beat them again (in WTC Final),” Ganguly told RevSportz’s Debasis Sen in an exclusive interaction in Kolkata.
When asked about what India needs to do in a bid to overcome Australia in pace bowling-friendly conditions in London, Ganguly kept it simple and focused on the importance of posting a good total on the scoreboard with the bat.
“Batting. You score runs. You put 350-400 on the board, you’ll be in a position to win,” Ganguly quipped.
Though Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli scored centuries against Australia, one of the biggest positives for India, with the bat, was the dominance of Shubman Gill, who replaced out-of-form KL Rahul in the playing XI for the last two Tests. Gill grabbed his opportunity with both hands, scoring 154 runs in the series at an average of 51.33 including a stunning century in Ahmedabad. Ganguly heaped praise on the batting sensation while also labelling him as a ‘permanent’ member of the Indian team now.
“He (Gill) has been brilliant for the last six-seven months. What else does he need to do? He is a permanent player now,” Ganguly said on the 23-year-old opener.
The former BCCI president further lauded Virat Kohli for ending his long 1205-day wait for a Test century while hoping the batting icon can continue producing masterclasses in the coming months.
“It’s exceptional. 75 hundreds at this level…nobody needs to say anything more. It’s good that he’s back to scoring runs. He has had a last good four five months for India. Hopefully, he’ll continue” Ganguly said on Kohli.
🤔 KS Bharat or Ishan Kishan – Who should India play in the #WTCFinal?
Former India captain #SouravGanguly gives his take on the heated debate
Interview by @debasis.sn #INDvAUS #INDvsAUS #WTC2023@souravganguly @boriamajumdar @cricsubhayan @thumsupofficial pic.twitter.com/PbECzhCY4w
— RevSportz (@RevSportz) March 14, 2023
Two of the biggest stars for India in the BGT were the spin-duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. They both shared 47 wickets between each other to not only help India showcase their dominance but also ended up sharing the Player of the Series award. While Ashwin bagged 25 wickets, Jadeja finished with 22 scalps to his name. However, Ganguly ensured to put some spotlight on Axar Patel as well, who finished as the third highest scorer of the series behind Usman Khawaja (333) and Virat Kohli (297) with 264 crucial runs to his name and three wickets.
“They both are good. Very good. We also need to speak about Axar Patel, who quietly does the job lower down the order with the bat. Whenever he gets to bowl, he does well. That’s India’s strength – Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar. I know you can’t play them all away but there’s tremendous potential there,” Ganguly said.
In the absence of Rishabh Pant, one of the hottest debates heading into the WTC Final will be the selection of wicketkeeper in the playing XI. KS Bharat was preferred ahead of Ishan Kishan in the BGT but the former didn’t impress many with his glovework. But will India hand a debut to Kishan in the summit clash?
“Depends on what Rahul (Dravid) is thinking. Ishan Kishan is an exceptional player. My way of looking at the game is different from theirs. So it’s their decision,” Ganguly said hinting that he would have prepared Kishan over Bharat for the WTC Final.
India will take on Australia in the final of the ICC World Test Championship from June 7-11 at The Oval in London.