Team India were condemned to a massive 209-run loss at the hands of Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) final at The Oval in London on Sunday, June 11, and their inability to win another ICC trophy has not gone down well with Indian cricket fans. They were poor with both the ball and the bat across the five days of the ultimate Test of the season, and former India skipper Sourav Ganguly was of the opinion that India left too much to do on the final day of the game.
"Anti-climax for sure but we were expecting too much on Day 5. 280 runs are a lot when you have only three batters left - Kohli, Jadeja and Rahane. The fifth day's cricket is different in these countries. It becomes double-paced, whether it is England or Australia. That is why probably such runs have not been scored for the last 100 years," Ganguly told Star Sports.
Ganguly added that India should have put up a better fight against Australia in the WTC Final, and questioned India head coach Rahul Dravid about their dismal performance, with India having lost back-to-back WTC Finals, first in 2021 against New Zealand, and again in 2023 against Australia.
"I agree with you that they should have put up a better fight. Harbhajan Singh and I even asked Rahul Dravid about it. There is a slight dilemma while asking as well as you have yourselves played cricket and won and lost matches but sometimes you need to ask," Ganguly added.
Some of India's best players over the years failed to find their best form when it mattered. Ajinkya Rahane, who was returning to the Test setup after 18 months, was India's highest run-getter, and the only batter who managed to hit 100 runs across two innings.
Skipper Rohit Sharma only managed 58 (15 & 43), Cheteshwar Pujara only hit 31 (14 & 27) and Virat Kohli could only score 63 (14 & 49). Speaking about their poor form, Ganguly said, "The averages we have seen in the last five years - 26 to 28, no matter how big a player you are, you have to score runs at this level if you have to win big tournaments, which India haven't done."
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