Former India cricketer all-rounder Irfan Pathan has commented on India’s defeat to New Zealand in the final of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC). Irfan said that India lost to the batsmen in the WTC finals and therefore faced defeat. India lost to New Zealand by eight wickets in the WTC final in Southampton, England.
Why did Team India lose in the semifinals or finals of ICC tournaments?
Speaking on Star Sports’ follow-up to the Blues, Irfan said, “I talked about this before the WTC final. I think there should have been one more batsman in the team. We do not have the quality fast bowling all-rounders that New Zealand has. It is difficult to find such an all-rounder. Now if we speak from the standpoint of cricket, I think the first innings was great, but India’s batting in the second innings was disappointing. In the second innings, the ball was not swinging and the Indian batsmen could bat more responsibly. I know Rishabh Pant’s strengths as a batsman and he can hit the balls well, but that doesn’t mean you have to go out and hit the fast bowler. He had to play responsibly.
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The former all-rounder said, “Indian batsmen used several pull shots on bouncers instead of justifying the use of their bodies. It shows a lack of commitment. These questions are difficult but I hope the Indian batsmen will have the answers to that in the future and now we are back to the same thing.
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Commenting on the lack of practice that would affect India’s position in the WTC final, Irfan said, “By the time the Indian team started fielding for the second session, our bowlers were tired. This is because India does not get enough match practice. When a team gets less match practice, the specific match does not have the required match fitness. I hope this eventually improves. Indian bowlers should opt for more bouncers as Neil Wagner did. Indian bowlers also need to improve the ball length as we have seen plenty of cut shots and back-foot shots by Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor.
