The last time India played Australia in England, the venue was The Oval. It was a World Cup fixture in 2019. It’s fitting that the World Test Championship final featuring these two teams is going to take place at the ground which staged the first-ever Test match in England, in 1880. It’s a place laden with history and the authorities over there, over generations, have preserved that history, in many forms.
Coming back to the present, it should be a fierce contest. India have had the upper hand against Australia in recent years. They have beaten them in four consecutive Test series, two at home and two away. That way, they do have a mental edge. And having beaten them in India earlier this year, they will be confident of an encore.
But this match is going to be played in England and that, potentially, changes a lot of things. The Australian pace attack will be far more effective in those conditions than they were in India. It’s the early English summer, when the ball is expected to move in the air. There might also be some deviation off the pitch. Yes, not having Josh Hazlewood is a blow for them, but Scott Boland, his likely replacement, is a handy proposition in English conditions. With him, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Cameron Green and Nathan Lyon, this is a formidable attack.
And the Australians will be fresher than the Indians. After a taxing Indian Premier League (IPL) season, the Indian players will be mentally and physically fatigued. One could argue that they will be in match mode because of the IPL and there might be some substance in that, but let’s not forget that this is a completely different format, especially for batters who must concentrate on leaving the ball after having continuously thrown the bat at it for almost two months.
Possibly, the same applies for the quicker bowlers. For weeks, many of them tried to keep the ball away from the batters, trying things like wide yorkers and slower bouncers. Now, it’s time to make the batters play. So for both batters and bowlers in the Indian team, this is going to be a paradigm shift. Sure, they are experienced and skilled enough to make the changes, but the Australians are perhaps in better shape when it comes to executing Test plans. Other than David Warner and Green, none of their likely XI played the IPL this time.
“We don’t know when we had a good amount of break,” said Rohit Sharma, the India captain on Tuesday, at the pre-match press conference. “That’s why we have so much workload management. This is part of your job now, you do understand a lot of cricket is played now.
“The last time we played (WTC final), we made a few mistakes, which we have already spoken about in this group. Hopefully, we will not repeat these kinds of things.”
And that is India’s biggest hope. On paper, this is a side capable of beating any team in almost every type of conditions. If Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja both play, which seems quite likely, they make the batting order fairly deep, at least till No 8. Not many teams can boast of this kind of depth. Of the eight, if five or six come up with decent contributions, India will have a fighting total on the board. It’s easier said than done, but there is potential.
When it comes to bowling, Mohammad Shami and Mohammad Siraj alongside Umesh Yadav (most probably) form a potent pace attack. The point is, they must hold their horses and not get carried away. Indian fast bowlers have done this in the past in favourable conditions. If these three keep calm and stick to the plans devised by the coaching staff, they are a formidable trio. Plus, there are Ashwin and Jadeja, who are capable of keeping the opposition under a leash even if they don’t get purchase from the pitch.
Maybe, just maybe, Australia hold a slender edge just because their players are fresher. But if India play to potential, this is going to be a close match. India have every reason to believe they can clinch it. Playing the final in both editions of the World Test Championship is an achievement in itself. Now is the time to go one notch higher, and win it. Last time, New Zealand came up trumps. Rohit’s team has what it takes to change the script this time, provided they make the proper adjustments.
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