WTC Final: Former head coach Ravi Shastri criticizes Team India, says lack of ‘positive mindset’ on day one

London: Disappointed with India’s defensive approach, former head coach Ravi Shastri has said that Rohit Sharma did not show a ‘positive mindset’ by choosing to bowl in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia. India left out veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and preferred a four-pronged pace attack to go with left-arm spin bowling all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja as they chose to bowl in rainy conditions.

The decision backfired as Steve Smith (95 batting) and Travis Head (146 batting) put on an unbroken 251-run partnership to take Australia to 327/3 on the second day. Shastri told the ICC after the end of the first day’s play on Wednesday, “As per what came out today, the mindset was to field after winning the toss, so the options in the bowling department – four fast bowlers one spinner.”

“If the mindset was positive you wanted to bat, rough it out in the first session and see if you can put 250 on the board. Don’t think 250-260 is too big and if the conditions were better and you see the first session complete, you could have achieved more.

Ravi Shastri said, “India lacked a positive mindset after fielding on the first day”. pic.twitter.com/5uyrUuzNuf– Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) June 8, 2023

India had Australia 73/2 at lunch on the first day, but after the skies cleared it became a batting beauty as Smith and Head swung the momentum in their favour. Shastri further said that Australia are in a dominant position and it is up to Pat Cummins and his men to let India claw their way back into the marquee contest.

“I think Australia are in a dominant position now. It is up to them to let India get back into the game, they batted well, especially in the first session of the game and that really set things up,” Shastri he said.

The former India all-rounder feels the only way India can claw their way back into the competition is to make the most of the new ball and take wickets on Thursday. “You have to think about the wicket, if you wait for things to happen then it is game over. By tea time tomorrow, Australia will have scored 200 more runs, if not more. So think wicket tries in the first 45 minutes of the game and count the second new ball.

“You saw what you did with the head – better lines, in the body, lots of little things and take it from there and if you strike early you take it from there.”

However, Shastri said that the game would be out of their hands if India could not get quick wickets in the morning session on the second day. “Winning will be difficult. If you lose that session in the morning, you can forget about the win. Australia can even bat two and a half sessions tomorrow to knock India out of the competition, the way they are going they can get over 600,” Shastri said.