Cricket News

Aakash Chopra talks about India’s biggest concerns going into WTC final against Australia

The World Test Championship final will be played at the Oval in England. The one-off final will take place between 7 to 11 June. The dukes ball will be used to play the fixture. India and Australia, courtesy of being the top two teams of the WTC, will play in the final. It will be a neutral venue for both sides and it promises to be a riveting concept. There will be a reserve day for the WTC final,

Ahead of the big clash, Aakash Chopra highlighted India’s biggest problems. He talked about getting accustomed to English conditions. India’s tough transition from T20s to tests. He added that the biggest Test will be to dictate the proceedings at the Oval coming into the big game. Notably, the Indian players have been playing T20 cricket for the last two months in the Indian Premier League.

“Test cricket has not been played in these conditions for a long time,” Chopra said. “In fact, it’s been a long time since we played Test cricket. For the last two months, you have played T20 cricket continuously. When you play T20 cricket, you play with a different template, you play in different teams. It’s been two-and-a-half months since you played together,” Aakash said.

The toughest thing is finding you bearing quickly in overseas conditions: Aakash Chopra

“It’s not a great thing,” he added. “In such a situation, if you playing at home, let’s say the first Test match in home conditions, you don’t even need to think, you will play that match very easily and win it. Everyone will understand their respective roles,” The former India cricketer added.

“But when you go to overseas conditions, many times it happens that in the first match, it takes a little time to get your bearings right,” he stated. “And Test cricket, facing Australia in English conditions if it is overcast, a little greenish pitch then it is possible that till the time if you find your bearings, the competition will slip out of your hand,” Aakash opined talking about the conditions in England

“So there is definitely a danger of one thing that in the last two-and-a-half months playing T20, that too for different teams,” Chopra added. “Secondly, I also feel that our main players, be it, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane or Cheteshwar Pujara, batting in these English conditions, haven’t conquered it in recent times.” The India side, other than Cheteshwar Pujara, has not played red-ball cricket since the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy which started in February and concluded in March.