Sourav Ganguly grills former teammate and head coach of Team India Rahul Dravid after losing to Australia in WTC final

London: Chief coach Rahul Dravid defended India’s decision to bowl first in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia, saying the pitch was overcast and had grass. Chasing a record target of 444, India were bowled out for 234 in the first session of the fifth day itself and lost by a huge margin of 209 runs in their second consecutive WTC final.

Dravid was asked some tough questions by Sourav Ganguly, who commented during the WTC final. Ganguly asked his former teammate Dravid the reason for bowling first and he replied that the decision was not about ‘handling the pressure’.

Dravid said, “We decided to bowl first in the Test match because the pitch was cloudy and there was a lot of grass on the pitch.” “So, we thought later on the pitch would be easier to bat on and that was the case here as well. Dravid said, in recent times most teams have opted to field first in England.

“We thought it was a good decision when the Aussies were at 70/3 and then we leaked a lot of runs in the next two sessions. Even if we got them out for 300, we would have stayed in the game. We could have got a chance in the fourth innings.

Rahul Dravid explains the key factors behind India’s defeat in the WTC final.

see what #TeamIndia The coach has a say on key moments and areas where the team fell short.#WTCFinal #WTC23 #Cricket pic.twitter.com/UG0klShbjg– Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) June 11, 2023

Dravid said the team was confident of chasing down a target of 300-plus in the fourth innings. “We hoped that although we were behind, we could show more fight but we knew we needed an exceptional performance. This was not a 469-run wicket. We gave away too many runs – the bowling was disappointing. Bad shots played, Dravid said.

Rahul Dravid says India are close to winning the ICC trophy

Dravid was further asked about the lack of an ICC trophy, which has eluded the team for over 10 years since the Champions Trophy in 2013 being India’s last win in a global competition. “You have a good point that we haven’t won a major ICC trophy since 2013. We’re getting closer. We’re getting into the semi-finals, we’re getting into the final, but I don’t think we’ve done that in the last five days. Showed my best game in. We will study statistics, numbers and statistics…we will look back.

“We are at our best in the T20 World Cup, but we are getting closer,” Dravid said.

Shifting the debate to the famous top-order failure, Ganguly asked Dravid about his lack of success in crucial matches, which has regularly disappointed India in the recent past. “Our top five are all very experienced. These same players have won in Australia, in England. It’s not up to their high standards. Some of the wickets have been very challenging. I agree it was a good pitch. But some other places But it’s been tough.

“I would say there have been better conditions at times when we played in South Africa or others. The pitches have been tough in India as well. With that in mind, the average has dropped across the board, not just for us. Every match is important and you need to win every match. The average for each player in the teams is low. But as you said, you (Ganguly) are right. If we give runs to our bowlers then it is a plus point. Harbhajan liked it when we scored runs.

Barring Cheteshwar Pujara, who was playing county in England, India had virtually zero preparation as the players flew straight in after IPL 2023. Schedule. No complaints, I want to congratulate Australia for the cricket they played. No excuses, no complaints, but they were the better side on the day.”