India's star all-rounder and World Test Championship (WTC) final Day 3's hero Shardul Thakur has played down Australia's upperhand in the ongoing ultimate drama and said that even 450 runs can be chased down at the Kennington Oval.
Shardul, Rahane launched India's fightback
After succumbing to Australian dominance on WTC Final's Day 1 and Day 2 respectively, Shardul Thakur and Ajinkya Rahane staged India's comeback and helped India to post a respectable 296 on the board in reply to Pat Cummins' brigade's 469 in the first innings.
On Day 3, Rahane belted 89 off 129, which is the highest score by any Indian batter in the WTC final, while Shardul put on a show with 51 off 109 to rescue India from a precarious 151/6.
Indian bowlers unsettle Australia's willowmen
However, with a 173-run lead in the kitty, Australian openers came out to bat but India needed early breakthroughs. Mohammed Siraj drew first blood to get rid of the dangerous David Warner on the third ball of fourth over. Warner scored just a single. The next man to return to pavilion was Usman Khawaja (13) who fell in Umesh Yadav's trap and edged the ball which travelled straight to Srikar Bharat's gloves. Ravindra Jadeja didn't let Australian batters heave a sigh in relief, not even for a moment, and dismissed the first innings' centurions Steve Smith (34) and Travis Head (18).
At the close of Day 3's play, Australia's scoreboard read 123/4 with a 296-run lead. Labuschagne remained unbeaten for 41 off 118 balls whereas Green scored seven runs.
Shardul upbeat about India's record chase
Meanwhile, right after the match in a press conference, the undeterred Shardul put out a statement and said even 450 can be chased down in the WTC final.
"Well, cricket is a funny game. You can never say what is the right total and this one-off game, especially ICC finals, you never know, I mean, who can handle the pressure better out there, one good partnership when you can even chase down 450 or maybe more than that," said Shardul.
"Last year England chased 400 here and they did not lose too many wickets. So that's a positive sign for us. Whatever they put up on the board, it's too early to make any predictions. We see a lot of times in Test cricket that game changes within an hour. So yes, we like to be optimistic tomorrow going on the field. And yeah, we'll take it on from there," Shardul added.
Shardul also spoke about his crucial 109-run partnership with Rahane for the seventh wicket on Day 3 of the WTC final.
"We didn't decide anything. There was no situation to decide anything. We just had to absorb the pressure. We were talking to each other a lot," said Shardul.
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