Another ICC title on cards for India, grab it!

Rohit Sharma and his team can have another shot at an ICC trophy, thanks to Kane Williamson’s outstanding hundred which secured the Black Caps a thrilling two-wicket win over Sri Lanka in Christchurch, paving the way for India’s march to their second successive World Test Championship (WTC) final.

After losing the final to New Zealand in Southampton in 2021, this time it was all about India first qualifying and then ending the ICC title drought at the BCCI office in Mumbai. The last time India won an ICC championship was when they won the Champions Trophy in Birmingham in 2013.

India’s undeniable form in its backyard was reaffirmed as Rahul Dravid and his men won the Border Gavaskar Trophy with a 2-1 victory over Australia in the recent four Test matches. Sri Lanka, the other team, had a chance, while Australia had already secured its place. The Lanka’s loss proved to be a welcome bonus for India. Now comes the biggest challenge for Team India.

Playing the WTC final within one week of the IPL’s conclusion is going to be a tough task. The WTC final will be played at The Oval in London from June 7-11, while the IPL ends on June 1. The triumph against Australia should hold India in good stead, but when the rivals face off at a neutral venue in the WTC summit clash, there will be no designer spinning square. Tests ending within three days with pitches deteriorating from the first ball do not augur well for cricket’s longest format.

Whenever India travels abroad, it is the pace that rules. So we have Jasprit Bumrah, who’s recovering from surgery, and it’s some worry for the team. But we have Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj and Umesh Yadav who can shore up the pace attack. Among batters, Rohit, Kohli and Pujara were back among the runs against Australia. And with Shubman Gill revealing good form, the batting lineup looks sorted. Indian team’s ability to fight back from extremely difficult situations was impressing.

Whenever, they were put under pressure with their backs to the wall, Rohit & Co responded well. As there’s no plan B now or changing of schedule, which is out of the window, they need to plan it out properly. During IPL, there’s going to be a lot of logistics involved, given the IPL final is only a week before the WTC final. Teams have to navigate through the complexities of playing a five-day match for the world title barely a week after the IPL ends.

India should plan to equip their Test bowlers with the Dukes ball during the IPL, so they can practice with it ahead of the WTC with the crammed schedule providing challenges of preparing to face Australia. Both teams will have to navigate the complexities of the calendar which will see the IPL dominate the two months of April and May, but it is accentuated for India with only Cheteshwar Pujara of their likely line-up not involved in the tournament.

The support staff should keep a close eye on bowlers’ workloads during the IPL and hope that any Test players involved in the teams who don’t make the finals would be able to travel to England early. Around May 21, there will be six teams which will possibly be out of the IPL. So these players will get more time to adapt to Test playing skills as they need to pause their IPL-style approach.  

Australia missed out on the 2021 final, where New Zealand beat India, due to over-rate penalties and they have admitted in recent months that they have taken this WTC cycle more seriously. So they will go all guns blazing against India. It’s a neutral venue for the teams and both have played a lot of cricket in that part of the world. One can expect a tight contest as no one has an edge.