Follow UsAhead of the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) final, there were a lot of debates - whether it was the right decision for India and Australia - to play an one-off Test as a final. It was also asked Rohit Sharma in the post-match press conference, and the Indian skipper wanted a three-match series as the decider for the world event.
“I would love that. But is there a time? That's the big question. But honestly, in a big event like this, you need to have fair opportunities to both the teams. You know, a three-match series would be nice, but it's about finding that window where it can be fit in. But I would love to have - in an event like this, you work hard for two years and then you have only one shot at it,” Rohit said at the post-match press conference.
Having said that, however, Rohit insisted that Test cricket is all about finding ‘rhythm’ and reckoned that it would be ideal for the two teams to play a three-match series next time around.
“So, it's not really - you cannot get into that momentum that you need in Test cricket. You know, Test cricket is all about finding that rhythm, finding that momentum as well. So, I think, yeah if in the next cycle, if it is possible, three match series would be ideal,” Rohit added.
India’s top-order, and experienced veterans, such as Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara, were yet again under the scanner for lack of big runs. Rohit insisted that it is not practically possible to teach the batters to bat in these conditions and added that they have to work their own methods to tackle the situation.
“Yeah, look, I mean, as you said, there are a lot of experienced players in the team. Now we play two finals. You cannot really teach them how to bat in those little time that you have before the game. It's all about getting yourself ready and however you can do that, it is completely up to you,” Rohit spoke about the immense experience of the top-order.
“That is what experience is all about. But yeah, I mean, look, I don't want to be too critical about it - the reason I say that is because when we were here last time, a lot of the senior batters actually put their hand up and got us ahead in the series. I mean, things like this can happen. We've had really good outing in the last two years,” he added.
Having said that, the right-hander reckoned that in an one-off Test, if a team isn’t mentally there, it is easy to lose a game. But Rohit insisted that all you can hope for is to prepare well and get ready for a game. Even the experience did not help India during the WTC final, stating that the lack of big runs is what probably cost the team.
“Whether we played in Australia, we played in England, but yeah, like you said, this one-off game, if you're mentally not there, you can lose a game. You know, and that is exactly what happened. We honestly wanted to give our best shot. Everybody prepared really well in the little time that we had, that is all you can do,” he added.
“And that is all you can hope for, whatever time you have in hand. And prepare well and get ready for the game. But yeah, when you have in your top six, you know, five or six batters who have quite experience played in these conditions before and couldn't go on to get big runs and that is what probably cost us.”
Lack of preparation cost us
India had just about a week heading into the World Test Championship's final, which irked the Indian skipper, Rohit. Rohit insisted that the team had 25-30 days to prepare themselves for the series against England last time. But this time, the Men in Blue rarely had enough time to prepare for the conditions.
“Ideally, yes, event like this, final like this, you need a lot of time to prepare yourself and that is what we did in the last time when we were here in England. We had good 25-30 days to prepare ourselves. And you saw the result. We were 2-1 up until that game got called off. Yeah, ideally, we would want to have good time in hand to prepare, give enough rest to the bowlers,” Rohit said.
“Sometimes it can be tough because playing T20 cricket, you completely bowl different lengths, different lines, lot of change-ups. And then Test cricket obviously requires a lot of discipline, hitting that area consistently and challenging the batsmen - but again you know Shami, Siraj, Umesh they all are experienced, they obviously know how to prepare themselves and get ready for a game like this. But in an ideal scenario, yes, I would prefer if we have 20, 25 days to prepare for a game like this,” he added.
On the match being played in June, Rohit had his share of reservations, stating that the match could be played anywhere in the world, not just in England, and at any time - and not particularly June.
“Yeah, I know. I mean, June is not the only month we should play the finals. It can be played any time of the year. And anywhere in the world, not just in England. It can be played anywhere in the world,” Rohit reckoned.
Many questions were raised about India’s playing combination, and Rohit answered them, stating that the team aims to win championships rather than winning a particular series.
“You know, there are a lot of things that we as a team we are trying, playing with different combination, certain guys in the squad as well. But yeah, it is disappointing, but you got to keep picking yourself and try and get ready for the next one. Because if you keep thinking about that, it's not going to help you move forward. And you don't want to be just lagging behind. And you, obviously, in life, you want to move forward and win games. And for me, winning championship is the most important thing rather than winning any series,” he added.
Out or not-out, Rohit has his say!
Over the last 24 hours, the entire focus was on Shubman Gill’s dismissal and whether Cameron Green, at gully, caught it clean. While it looked close in real-time, it was a tough call for the third umpire, which eventually was given as out.
“I just felt disappointed with - not enough. I mean, the third umpire should have seen a little more replays, a little more of, you know, how the catch has been held. I think it was three or four times he saw and he was convinced with it. It's not about whether it was given out or not out, you need to have a proper and clear information about anything,” Rohit spoke on Gill’s dismissal.
Rohit’s disappointment, however, wasn’t about the particular decision but the thinking of the third umpire behind the decision, stating that the third umpire had to look at the camera angles and take a closer look at the decision.
“It's just not about the catch, it can be about anything. That was, that is something that I was a little disappointed with - the decision was made quite quickly. When a catch like that has been taken, you need to be more than 100% sure because it's a final and we were at that important stage of the game as well. So that was to me a little disappointing.”
“And more camera angles should have been shown. There was only one or two camera angles that were shown. We've got more angles in IPL. We've got 10 different angles in IPL. I don't know why in a world event like this, there was no ultra motion that was seen or any kind of zoomed image was seen. That is what I was a little disappointed with.”