Team India Head Coach Rahul Dravid said that the conditions on offer at the Oval stadium in London for the World Test Championship (WTC) final wasn’t conducive for a mammoth first innings total like Australia managed. He also alluded that too many runs were given away after tea on the first day.
“It wasn’t a 469 pitch. Gave away too many in the last session on Day 1,” he said after India’s 209-run loss against Australia. “We got them on 70/3, but then let it slip away.”
He also suggested that the bowlers didn’t get their lines quite right on the first day despite favourable bowling conditions.
“We knew what lines and lengths to bowl. Our lengths weren’t bad but we probably bowled too wide,” he said. “We probably gave too much room to Head.”
Dravid defended the decision to bowl first after winning the toss on the first day. “There was a lot of grass on the wicket, and conditions were cloudy,” he said.
“The three early wickets showed that the decision was right. We’ve seen in England batting gets easier. There wasn’t much help on Day 4 or 5 if you saw.”
He also defended the performances of the Indian top-order batsmen over the WTC cycle, but admitted that the batting display during this test was not upto their high standards.
“These same players have won in Australia, in England. Some of the wickets have been quite challenging,” he said. “This was a good pitch I’ll admit. But some of the other places it’s been tough. Even in India pitches have been tough.”
He also suggested that there was a drop in averages of players all over the world and that it was not a dip in performance of Team India’s batters alone.
“We are getting close,” he said, when asked about the ICC trophy drought. “We’re getting to semis, to final. Just that we haven’t played the best cricket on the day. No one wants it more than the players. Can’t fault their efforts.“
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