Former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer said that India did not have enough time to prepare for the WTC final and was therefore under-prepared in the run-up to the final. The IPL 2023 final was played over two days on May 28 and 29.
He World Trials Championship Final it started on June 7 with the Indian players ideally having just a week to adjust to the conditions in England. The likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Ajinkya Rahane and Shubman Gill were among the last batch of players to make it to the UK for the final, having played in the IPL final.
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Speaking to Sportskeeda, Wasim Jaffer pointed out that just one week was not enough for Team India’s WTC preparations.
“The IPL final was on May 28 [29], while the final of the World Test Championship was on June 7. There was only a week of preparation. I think a week is not enough for the preparations. The same thing happened during the last WTC also against New Zealand. We lost that one too. I feel like they didn’t have enough time to prepare.” he said.
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After India’s loss, both Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma spoke about the team not having enough time for preparations. Both said that ideally they should have had two weeks to prepare.
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Jaffer also highlighted the struggle of the Indian bowlers as they headed to the WTC final straight from the IPL. He said that playing in the IPL was one of the reasons why they failed to throw on the correct line and length in the final. He also talked about the difference in workload in red and white ball cricket.
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Lack of preparation was evident in Indian bowlers: Wasim Jaffer
“The length of the bowler hats was on the shorter side. One of the reasons could be that all the bowlers came from the IPL. The lack of preparation was evident. In the IPL, one has to bowl four overs. Here, you have to play 17-18 overs in a day. There is a big difference. The body is not used to that.” Jaffer explained.
The former Indian batsman concluded by highlighting the problems Indian batsmen faced in the WTC final. The dismissal of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the second innings became the talk of the town, while Cheteshwar Pujara’s outrageous shot upset many.
Hitters not used to dropping balls and playing two sessions: Wasim Jaffer
“The hitters are not used to laying down a lot of balls and playing two sessions at once. It is a big change, which is not easy. But, India deserves credit for making it to two consecutive WTC finals, even though we couldn’t keep winning.” Jaffer concluded by saying.
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