Written by Vaibhav Tripathi
In a press conference ahead of the highly anticipated World Test Championship (WTC) final between India and Australia, Rahu Dravid, coach of the Indian men’s cricket team, shared his insights on the match, set to commence on June 7 at The Oval.
Dravid highlighted the two years of intense and relentless hard work leading up to this final. “Excited and looking forward to it,” he said. “It has been two years of hard work.”
He also spoke of how the WTC had added a layer of meaning to bilateral series. “Because of the World Test Championship, there is a lot of context to bilaterals,” he said. “Not that earlier, there were no context since you are playing for your country. England and Australia play more Test cricket than most times.”
As many as 14 of the Indian players go into the game on the back of two months of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The sole exception is Cheteshwar Pujara, who has been captaining Sussex in Division Two of the County Championship.
“We have had conversations with Puji (Pujara) not only in batting, but also on a lot of things because he captains Sussex,” said Dravid. “It is not easy to be a single-format player. I was a one-format player at the fag end of my career. He has played a lot of cricket, irrespective of the fact that he has not played the IPL.”
ALSO READ: India Need Crucial Cameos as Much as Centuries in WTC Final
India are missing key players such as Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, and Shreyas Iyer, all been sidelined due to injuries. One of those to get an opportunity as a result has been Ajinkya Rahane. “We have had few injuries, and that helped him come back into the team,” said Dravid. “But we are glad that we have had someone of his quality. He is a good slip fielder and he has also led India with a considerable amount of success.”
Before this game, there has been much speculation about David Warner’s future. He had expressed a wish to call time on his career at the Sydney Cricket Ground next January, though the possibility of an exit during the upcoming Ashes series also can’t be ruled out.
“David Warner is a quality player and he has played 100 Test matches,” said Dravid, who himself enjoyed a purple patch towards the end of his career, with three centuries on the tour of England in 2011.
ALSO READ: The scoring patterns at The Oval are favourable for batters: Rohit
The immediate challenge for India is to adjust to the conditions, with hardly anyone in the squad having played red-ball cricket in England in June. “In our team, our boys have played a lot in these conditions in England,” said Dravid, harking back to India’s 2-2 draw with England in a five-Test series played in 2021 and 2022 (one Test). “It is different than India but there is not much of a difference. Our boys have done well here in different conditions. We also do different preparations for slip fielding.”
India haven’t won an ICC title in a decade, but Dravid, who finished on the losing side in the 2003 World Cup final against Australia, was hopeful that his side had what it took to change the script. “Whatever will happen will happen on the five days,” he said. “The team that does well in these five days will win, and if we do that then I am hopeful that we can win it.”