India and Australia will be facing off in the World Test Championship Final (WTC) at The Oval, England. Mohammed Siraj complemented the India captain Rohit Singh’s decision to invite Australia to bat first after he won the toss. He got Usman Khawaja to open the innings. David Warner was also dismissed by Shardul Takur following a 43-ball innings. Mohammed Shami removed Marnus Labuschagne, and India seemed to be on the right path.
The situation changed drastically as soon as Travis Head entered. The Indian bowlers were unable to maintain their line and length after the southpaw began to thrash them. Soon, the Australian batters began to hit boundaries with ease. The Indians were in a panic. Steve Smith and Travis Head put together a 251 run partnership on Day 1 before the match ended.
After the conclusion of Day 1, the decision to bowl first by Rohit Shastri was questioned. Former India coach Ravi Shastri was the first to criticize Sharma’s decision to bowl first. He felt Sharma had a “negative mentality” in choosing to do so. Shastri thought that India should’ve batted first.
Ravi Shastri thinks India should have batted before.
Former India coach Shastri felt that if India batted before Australia, it could have created some pressure. Shastri believed that the decision to bowl first had an impact on India’s team composition, especially with questions about India’s playing lineup (without R Ashwin). According to what was said today, India’s mindset was to win the toss and field, which is why they chose to bowl with four seamers and one spinner.
If you have a positive mindset, you would want to bat. You could rough it out during the first session to see if you are able put 250 on the board. “Don’t think too much 250-260, and if conditions improved and you made it through the first session you may have gotten more,” he said.
