India finds themselves in a precarious situation during the ongoing ICC World Test Championship final in 2023. Australia currently holds a commanding lead of 296 runs at the end of Day 3, with six wickets still in hand. In the first innings, India was dismissed for a total of 296 runs, but Ajinkya Rahane (89) and Shardul Thakur (51) managed to rescue their team when they were struggling at 152/6.
Thakur’s innings was particularly noteworthy as he achieved his third consecutive fifty-plus score at the Oval, a feat previously accomplished only by the legendary Sir Don Bradman and Allan Border. Regarding the pitch, Thakur commented that it seemed a bit underprepared, citing the uneven bounce it has been producing since Day 2.
Shardul Thakur said
“The pitch is surely different. Last time we played the pitch was doing something and everyone knows if there is cloud cover in England the ball moves around. As the game went forward last time and the team started taking rollers it became flat. But this time it was not anything like that. It was under prepared I felt going in to the game. Like we saw yesterday and today it was a bit up and down,” Thakur was quoted as saying by NDTV.
Additionally, Shardul Thakur noted that cricket is a humorous game and that a strong partnership can benefit in the pursuit of 450 when discussing India’s chances in the contest.
“Cricket is a funny game. You can never say what is the right total, especially in an ICC final. One good partnership and you can chase down 450 or maybe more than that. We saw last year England chased 400 here and they did not lose too many wickets,” Thakur concluded.
For the second time in a row, India is facing defeat in a World Cup final. Notably, they had fallen short to New Zealand by eight wickets in the opening-year competition’s championship match. The impossible job of bundling out Australia with a lead of 400 is placed on the top-ranked team in the globe.
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