India will take on Australia in the World Test Championship final© AFP
India qualified for the World Test Championship (WTC) final after winning the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2-1 at home and the Rohit Sharma-led side will be facing Australia once again in the summit clash at the Oval in June. The qualification went down to the wire as India were held to a draw in the final game of the four-match series and New Zealand defeated the other contender – Sri Lanka – by 2 wickets. The Indian cricketers will now be busy with the Indian Premier League (IPL) and several experts have expressed their doubt on how they would be able to re-adapt to Test cricket. India legend Sachin Tendulkar believes that the team has a decent chance of winning the title but also pointed out that a lot will depend on team selection and how the players can adapt to the conditions during the match.
“We have played well and we have a good team, a balanced team. In those conditions, you must see the overhead conditions and then also, the forecast comes into play. In Test cricket, you will have to understand conditions for the next five days and pick the squad accordingly,” Tendulkar said at the India Today Conclave 2023.
“It would be slightly challenging for a captain to have extra spinners in the team to get the balance right. I am only thinking from India’s point of view, let Australians do what they want to do. We stand a very good chance,” Tendulkar added.
Tendulkar also lamented the decrease in interest when it comes to ODI cricket and said that the format has become monotonous in the recent past.
“It’s getting monotonous without any doubt. There are two parts. One is the current format and the next is which I feel it should be played. Let me talk about the current format which has been there for a while now… is two new balls. When you have two new balls, it eliminated reverse swing. Even though we are in the 40th over of the game, it’s actually the 20th over of that ball,” Sachin Tendulkar said.
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