The Indian international stars have their task cut out for them as they transition from the Indian Premier League (IPL) to Test cricket for the World Test Championship Final. Players like Ajinkya Rahane, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami played in the nail-biting IPL finals which was concluded in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Along with these four, KS Bharat was also present in the Gujarat Titans squad but he did not feature in the game. The other players that played in the IPL were the Indian team captain Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan, Axar Patel, Mohammad Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadakt and Umesh Yadav.
Cheteshawar Pujara, India’s number-three batter and the current vice-captain of the Indian team was playing and captaining his County side, Sussex County Cricket Club during this time. Pujara enjoyed a great County stint as he scored 545 runs in just seven innings in five matches. Playing in Division 2, the Sussex captain even scored three centuries.
The transition from IPL to Test cricket will be tough for both batters and bowlers. Although, different formats have different requirements, but for all-format players, a successful run of form in one format usually carries over to the other formats as well.
Sunil Gavaskar
Legendary Indian batter, Sunil Gavaskar advised the batters to take a look at their bat speed. Gavaskar said, “I think they are going to look at their bat speed. Coming from T20 where the bat speed is very fast to test cricket where the bat speeds have to be a lot more controlled, that is something they’ll need to do. They’ll need to play in England as late as possible to allow for the swing to do its bit, not to reach out for the ball which often a lot of people make the mistake of having played on good pitches.” He further added, “Wherever you play on good pitches, you tend to play through the line, not necessarily half volleys, but in England, those deliveries can move just that little bit. So, I think those are the things that as a batter you need to watch out for.”
Gavaskar even talked about how the bowlers will need to vary their lines and lengths. He said As a bowling unit also you’ll need to bowl a much fuller length for your new ball, for the bowlers to be able to get the movement in the air as well as after pitching.”
India has a slight advantage over Australia?
Although India will be playing in quite different conditions in comparison to their home conditions they still might have an edge over Australia heading into the WTC Final. Australia first played a test match in England at The Oval in 1880. In more than 140 years and 38 tests, Australia has managed to be the victorious side only seven times. This is one of the worst records at a stadium. In the last 50 years, Australia has won only twice at The Oval.
Australia will be wary of their record at The Oval which will host the WTC Final from June 7 to June 11.
Also Read: The Ashes: Schedule, Venue and other details
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