The current Indian side, according to former India head coach Ravi Shastri, has the talent to defeat Australia in the forthcoming World Test Championship championship match and win their first ICC trophy in nearly ten years. He acknowledged that the Rohit Sharma-led team has had difficulty playing on bumpy surfaces, but he also emphasised that because this is a one-off Test, the team will not hold back and will attack the Australians at the Oval.
The 61-year-old also emphasised that even though many former cricket players and experts are picking Australia as the frontrunner, they could lose the summit match on June 7 if they have one bad performance.
Shastri talks about Trophy draught
“You have to compete. Sometimes, you need a little bit of luck going your way as well. I wo/n’t say we didn’t play good cricket. We have played very good cricket. The rub of green hasn’t quite gone their way. I always say this team is good enough to win an ICC trophy. When I was there, I used to say the same thing… especially in last 3-4 years, I thought the team was good enough to win an ICC trophy. Those players are still there,” Shastri told Hindustan Times.
“Everyone’s saying Australia are clear favourites because we are playing in England. But it’s a one-off Test, just one bad day can ruin your chances. Australia also need to be very careful,” he further added.
The 1983 World Cup champion predicts that the Indian team would make a decision regarding their lineup for the WTC final on the day of the game. Ishan Kishan is likely to play if India decides to field four seamers, according to Shastri; if not, KS Bharat should be selected.
“I have a feeling that India might just go with depending on who’s playing- two spinners are playing, maybe KS Bharat. But if there are four seamers and one spinner, then it will go the other way, it might go Ishan Kishan’s way. Six will be Jadeja; seven will be Mohammed Shami; eight will be Mohammed Siraj, nine will be Shardul Thakur. 11 will be Ravichandran Ashwin, and 12 will be Umesh Yadav,” Ravi Shastri told on Star Sports.
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