Kirti Azad, a former bowler for India, thought that Australia, led by Pat Cummins, beat India in every way in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final at the Oval in London. On the fifth day of the one-off Test on June 11, Rohit Sharma and his team lost badly to Australia by 209 runs. This was India’s second straight loss in the WTC final, which is important to note.
After India won the coin toss, they asked Pat Cummins and the rest of his team to bat first. But their choice backfired when Travis Head (163 out of 174) and Steve Smith (121 out of 268) both got centuries to help Australia score a huge 469 runs in the first inning. From then on, India kept falling further and further behind in the main event.
Azad told Sports Tak that Australia beat India in both cricket and bowling because their players were so good at both. He also said that Australia’s bowlers were spot on during India’s game, which ended with them being out for 234 runs on the last day.
“In every way, Australia was better than us. They were great at both bowling and hitting. “If we look at the Australian bowlers in the first inning, they were spot on. Even when they weren’t getting wickets, they kept bowling in the same direction,” Azad told Sports Tak.
India lost the game in the very first round. Kirti Azad
The former player went on to say that India lost the game in the first inning because the bowlers got too excited and couldn’t keep their line and lengths. India bowled better in Australia’s second innings, but Rohit and the rest of his team could have won the prize if they had done the same in the first.
“It looked like our bowlers were too happy. They couldn’t keep the line and length that they were supposed to keep. So we lost the game before we even got to bat. We did bowl a little better in the second innings, but if we had bowled well in the first innings and kept them to 300–325 runs, we could have won the game because India got 296 runs,” he said.
He also said that even though India bowled well in the second inning, the job was hard because Australia was ahead after the first inning. He said that India seemed to be on the right track when Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli were at the bat, but they lost wickets.
“The bowling was good in the second inning, but the lead in the first inning was so big that it seemed impossible. “When Rahane and Kohli were playing, it looked like they could do it, and India has a deep batting lineup, but it’s too bad they lost their wickets,” he said.