As India prepares for the all-important World Test Championship final, former India batter, Wasim Jaffer has stated that India’s openers will hold the vital key.
In all probability, Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma will have to ensure that India gets a positive start in the tournament.
However, Jaffer has also pointed out the fact that it will not be easy for Gill or Sharma to dismantle Australia’s bowling.
As the wicket at The Oval is susceptible to sideways movement, he feels that Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc will pose a great threat to India.
Says Jaffer,
Openers will have to play a massive role. England is the most challenging place to bat because of the sideways movement. Conditions change so drastically because of the weather. It changes quickly. The duke’s ball also poses a lot of problems. As the ball gets old, it will keep swinging and also starts to reverse. With Starc and Cummins, running at 145 kph, it is going to be challenging.
Jaffer expresses worry over India’s lack of Test preparation
Meanwhile, the veteran opener was also quick to point out the lack of practice that India had over the past two months.
He has stated that all the Indian players have been busy with the IPL which makes it difficult for them to make the quick switch to Test cricket.
Apart from Cheteshwar Pujara, no other Indian cricketer has had a decent Test match practice because of the IPL.
They last played a Test series against Australia at home in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Concludes Jaffer,
Things are looking good but the only concern is that they have played so much T20 cricket in the past two months and for them to adjust quickly, that is going to be a challenge without having any match practice only four or five days of preparation. I am sure nowadays cricketers have learnt to make that switch very quickly.
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