Team India suffered their second consecutive defeat in a World Test Championship Final as they went down to Australia by 209 runs at The Oval on Sunday to conclude another disappointing overseas loss.
Unlike their defeats in South Africa and England on the 2022 tours, here, here, India were behind in the game soon after the first session on Day 1 when they allowed Travis Head and Steve Smith to counter-attack and hammer centuries. Australia piled up 469 runs in their first innings and India were always going to play catch-up from thereon, with their brittle batting order not standing up in the most crucial game.
The players were coming off a two-month long, grueling, demanding IPL 2023 season, so it was not a big surprise that a few players underperformed in the World Test Championship Final. Even those who were in good form in the IPL season flopped against Australia.
2 Indian players who performed well in the IPL, but disappointed in the WTC Final 2023:
Shubman Gill
Shubman Gill had a bumper Indian Premier League 2023 season where he finished with the Orange Cap, having amassed 890 runs at an average of 59 with 3 centuries and 4 fifties.
However, the India opener couldn’t translate that form in red-ball cricket against Australia as he was dismissed for scores of 13 and 18 and failed in his third consecutive Test in England: in 3 Tests in England, Gill averages only 14. He was dismissed by Boland in both the innings.
Mohammed Shami
Mohammed Shami was the Purple Cap winner in the Indian Premier League 2023. The ace Gujarat Titans seamer snapped up 28 wickets for the Gujarat Titans. Shami was terrific with the new ball in the Indian Premier League and hit the lengths consistently.
However, those same lengths didn’t deliver in England as Shami failed to bowl fuller early on with the new ball and missed opportunities to penetrate the Australian line-up. He returned with figures of 2/122 (economy 4.2) and 2/39 in the second innings.
