11 June,2023 08:46 PM IST | London | mid-day online correspondent
Rahul Dravid (Pic: AFP)
India head coach Rahul Dravid defended his team's decision to bowl first in the World Test Championship final against Australia, saying the call was dictated by overcast conditions and grass on the pitch.
In pursuit of a record 444, India were bowled out for 234 in the first session of the fifth day itself to lose their second WTC Final in a row by a massive margin of 209 runs.
India had lost to New Zealand in WTC's inaugural edition in 2021.
Dravid was posed some tough questions by Sourav Ganguly, who commentated during the WTC Final.
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Ganguly asked his former teammate Dravid the logic behind deciding to bowl first and he responded by saying that the decision was not about "tackling pressure".
"We decided to bowl first in the Test match because the conditions were overcast and there was quite a lot of grass on the pitch," Dravid said.
"So, we thought that it would get easier to bat on later in the pitch and that was the same case here also. Most teams in recent times have opted to field first in England," Dravid said.
"We thought that it was a great decision when Aussies were at 70/3 and then we leaked a lot of runs in the next two sessions. Even if we would have gotten them out by 300, we would have been in the game. We could have had a chance in the fourth innings," the India head coach added.
Dravid said the team was confident of chasing down a 300-plus target in the fourth innings.
"We had hoped that however behind we were, we could've shown more fight but we knew we needed exceptional performances. It was not a 469-run wicket. We gave away a lot of runs -- bowling was disappointing. We played some poor shots yesterday," Dravid said.
Indian batters made a strong start in the final innings but failed to convert it to a successful outcome on the Day 5 of WTC final. Australia beat India by 209 runs.
(With PTI inputs)
Also Read: WTC Final: Coach Rahul Dravid denies feeling pressure of trying to win an ICC trophy
