When India won the toss and chose to bowl in the final of the World Test Championship against Australia at the Oval in London on June 7, it was the right decision at the right moment. Australia would have done the same. At Stumps on Day 1, with Australia at 327/3, the familiar question started to ring bells: are India going to lose another ICC knockout? In hindsight, the answer is now known.
India did not reach the two Test finals in 2021 and 2023 on fluke. They reached on merit. They defeated Australia, England and South Africa in their backyards. They made comebacks to make their supporters and opponents know that they are no pushovers.
The IPL was not a contributing factor. In 2023 India did not have time to adapt in between the IPL and the Test final. In 2021, they had sufficient time to adapt. Yet they lost in both finals.
What went wrong with India?
The scorecards of the two finals show an interesting pattern. It was almost the same team, both times around. Rohit Sharma, Shubhman Gil, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami were in both the finals.
India’s first problem was that their top-order failed to give their bowlers something to defend in both the finals.
India’s second innings collapses is where they went wrong. In 2021, India lost Kohli at 3/71. The team was bundled out for 170 and lost the final. In 2023, India lost Pujara at 3/93 going into stumps on Day 4 at 164/3. The final morning is history. Another second innings collapse and another loss in the final.
Did India start Day 5 with a wrong approach? Yes and No.
The pitch was still good for batting. India’s run-rate was not that bad. It was possible to chase the target. This is where India probably got it wrong. They set out to chase the target.
Day 5 was in India’s hand. India needed to bide time and take the game deep. The deeper India could have gone, the more a draw would have become possible. The trophy could have been shared between India and Australia. An ICC trophy has been shared in the past. The 2002 Champions Trophy was shared between India and Sri Lanka.
By chasing, India committed the cardinal sin of Test cricket. India let Australia breathe. Once Australia can breathe in a Test, Australia will make a comeback.
What can India do now?
India need to go back to the Ranji Trophy. That is where all their greatest Tests players have come from. India need to seriously explore why they collapsed on the second innings in both the finals.
The month of June cannot be accepted as a reason. India last won an ICC Trophy on June 24, 2013, defeating England in the Champions Trophy in England and Wales. India also first won an ICC Trophy on June 25, 1983, when Kapil’s Devils conquered the West Indies, again in England and Wales.
A nation’s glory in sport lies in its silverware. India will soon enter a second decade with no new silverware. It is time for India to ask, what goes wrong?
