India Report Card, WTC Final: Rohit, Kohli, Gill Poor, Jadeja Above Average; Pujara, Rahane’s Future In Doubt
June 23, 2013, was the last time an Indian cricket team laid their hands on an ICC title. A decade and nine ICC events in different formats later, the search for the next world title is still on.
It’s not like India have fared poorly in ICC events since their Champions Trophy win in England nearly 10 years ago. In nine tournaments, they have played the final four times and have been in the semi-finals as many times. It was only the 2021 edition of the T20 World Cup in UAE, that they really bottled under pressure, failing to make it to the last four. But when we talk about the Indian cricket team, a semi-final finish is not satisfactory. Even a loss in the final is considered to be a failure. It should be too, especially after four of them…
The WTC final loss to Australia at The Oval is the latest edition to India’s disappointments in a knockout match in an ICC event. India were so behind in the game in all days that even the 209-run margin defeat seems respectable. Such a below-par performance in all departments warrants scrutiny.
Here’s our report card on India’s performance in the WTC final
Rohit Sharma, captain (4/10, Poor): Right from the decision to bowl first after winning the toss to dropping Ashwin, Rohit had one of his worst outings as a captain in the WTC final. He had no answers to Travis Head and Steve Smith’s onslaught in the first innings. The short ball tactic to Head, which is clearly the left-hander’s weakest area, was used when he was in his 90s. As a batter too, he threw away starts in both innings. In the first innings, when he was batting on 15, he got a good one from Pat Cummins that pinned him on the crease but in the second innings, after reaching 43 on the back of some dazzling strokeplay, he played a sweep shot in the very first over of Nathan Lyon. The Australian off-spinner was bowling around the wicket, clearly to stop the runs and the sweep shot was perhaps the only way he could have gotten a well-set Rohit out. The Indian captain did just that. He could not make up his mind whether to play a paddle or a slog sweep and got late. The ball struck him right in front.
Shubman Gill (3/10, Poor): Debate all you want about his dismissal for 14 in the second innings but the third umpire did what he felt was right. And there is no confirmed evidence to prove he was wrong. In fact, if one reads the laws, it’s likely he would side with the umpire’s decision. Gill was fined by the ICC for his social media posts immediately after the fourth day’s play. But amid all this, the focus shifted from Gill’s batting. He shouldered arms to a Scott Boland delivery in the first innings and got his stumps knocked back for 13. On most days, Gill would have played a forward defence to that ball. A lot was expected from the young opener but he fell short by some distance. However, considering his quality and the years ahead, Gil is set to be the pillar of India’s Test batting line-up.
Cheteshwar Pujara (2/10, Very poor): With no IPL fatigue and a county season behind his back, Pujara was the most well-prepared Indian cricketer in the WTC final. It, however, did not appear like that when the veteran of 103 Tests walked out to bat at The Oval in both innings. If Gill’s leave to Boland in the first innings was bad, Pujara’s to Cameron Green was worse. He managed a laborious 14 before getting bowled after offering no shot. In trying to be ultra-positive, which never comes to him naturally, Pujara got out trying to play a ramp shot off Cummins in the second innings, moments after Rohit had thrown his away wicket. Apart from a few good scores in Bangladesh, Pujara has been way below-par in this WTC cycle. And it’s time, serious questions are asked about his position at No.3.
Virat Kohli (4/10, Poor): Sunil Gavaskar, Sanjay Manjrekar and a few others made it quite clear that Kohli would have been in a better position had he not lunged forward to a Mitchell Starc delivery that pitched on the halfway mark in the first innings. They are right. Pressing forward irrespective of the ball’s length has been a problem for Kohli in the last few years. Having said that, the ball did bounce more than expected and caught him by surprise. There were no surprises in the second innings though. Kohli simply played an abysmal shot. He chased a wide full delivery from Boland and got an outside edge when had done all the hard work to reach 49. The worst bit here is the fact that Kohli has done the same thing many times in the past. He has got his form back in white-ball cricket to a great extent but in red-ball cricket, he is miles away from his best and that is hurting India. The sooner he gets going, the better for him and the team.
Ajinkya Rahane (7/10, Good): The surprise pick and the most debated player in the batting line-up turned out to be India’s best performer in the final. Rahane made a comeback to the Test side after close to a year and a half following an injury to KL Rahul. The former vice-captain, rode his luck, coped with a few blows to the finger and battled his way to 89 in the first innings. If Green hadn’t taken that one-handed blinder, he could well have scored a hundred. In the second innings too, he looked the best of the Indian batters. He was assured in defence, did not look in a hurry, and judged the ball on merit till he flashed at a wide one from Starc when on 46. Take that shot out, Rahane had a pretty good outing in the WTC final. His future in the Indian Test side, however, is debatable.
Ravindra Jadeja (6/10, Above average): Ravindra Jadeja was selected ahead of Ravichandran Ashwin mainly because of his batting. And did justify that to a certain extent in the first innings with a fluent 48. But he would be mighty disappointed with the shot he played to Nathan Lyon. In the second innings, he got no sighters. Boland came up with a beauty that moved away ever so slightly after pitching just outside off to catch the outside edge of his bat. With the ball, Jadeja probably did more than what was expected from him. He was India’s most economical bowler in the first innings and also got the wicket of Alex Carey. In the second innings, he troubled all the Australian left-handers using the rough created outside their off stump and returned with figures of 3/58.
KS Bharat (4/10, Poor): Bharat was never going to be Rishabh Pant with the bat but he did a fantastic job behind the stumps. But if the wants to be India’s backup keeper in Tests then he has to work a lot on his batting.
Shardul Thakur (5/10, average): His gutsy 51-run knock in the first innings made sure India stayed in the game but Shardul won’t particularly be happy with the way he bowled. He did pick up a couple of lucky breakthroughs in the first innings but in the second, he looked out of sorts and out of breath. He returned wicketless in his 8 overs.
Mohammed Shami (4/10, Poor): Mohammed Shami was good in patches but in the absence of Bumrah, he had to be good throughout. He missed his mark in the first innings. He was way too short with the new ball when the track was most challenging for batters. That cost India greatly. It does not help when your lead seamer goes at more than 4 runs an over on Day 1 of the final. He came back on Day 2 and was pretty good in the second innings but only four wickets from the pace spearhead in the Test was never going to be good enough to win the title.
Umesh Yadav (2/10, Very poor): He looked unprepared and out of rhythm pretty much throughout the WTC final. His bowling lacked the venom and in the first innings, his lines and lengths were a worry too. He bowled too wide to Warner and Head. In the second innings, he did put up a better performance and also got the wickets of Steve Smith and Usman Khawaja to show for but his future in the Indian Test side looks bleak.
Mohammed Siraj (7/10, Good): Easily the best of Indian pacers. Mohammed Siraj bowled his heart out in the first innings and got four wickets. It was because of him that India were able to stop Australia from crossing 500. In the second innings, he bowled well but got only one wicket.