“Don’t know how ready he is, knowing he just got married” - Rohit Sharma confirms Shardul Thakur is in WTC final plans with cheeky comment

Team India captain Rohit Sharma has confirmed that all-rounder Shardul Thakur is very much in the team's plans for the World Test Championship final if they qualify. He also cheekily added that he's not sure how ready Thakur would be considering he recently got married.

Thakur is not part of the Test squad for the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, but he has been named in the team for the one-day series against Australia. Thakur, who got married on Monday (February 27), was part of the Indian playing XI that took on England in the rescheduled Test in Birmingham last year.

At a press conference ahead of the third Test in Indore against Australia, Rohit was asked if India would utilise the final Test to prepare for the WTC final in case they win the third game. The Indian captain said:

“There is definitely a possibility of that. We have already spoken about it. We need to get the guys ready for it as well. The important one is Shardul Thakur because he comes into the plans for us. I don’t know how ready he is, knowing that he just got married yesterday. How much overs he has bowled. If we get the result that we want, we might think of doing something different in Ahmedabad.”

India will need to win at least one of their remaining two Tests against Australia to qualify for the WTC final. Asked how significant an achievement it would be if India confirm their berth in the summit clash, Rohit said:

“It will be a great achievement. (In) the cycle after the last World Test Championship (WTC), the way we have played in certain conditions has been remarkable. Yes, these are our home conditions, but these are some challenging conditions that we are playing in. It is not easy for batters to come out and keep scoring runs consistently."

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He, however, cautioned that the team cannot look too far ahead, as the focus needs to be on the ongoing Test series. Rohit added:

“We know that we need to cross that final hurdle. For that we need to win the next game as well. So the focus is on this Test - how we can win this game and not look too far ahead. After this game, there is one more Test to be played, and then there’s two months of IPL. There’s a lot to time to think about the final, but right now it’s very important for us to focus on just this one and see how we can win this game as well.”

While the third Test begins on Wednesday (March 1), the fourth Test will be held in Ahmedabad from March 9 to 13.

“Not going to be alien condition as such” - Rohit Sharma on WTC final at neutral venue

The World Test Championship 2023 final will be hosted at The Oval in June. Since England have failed to qualify, there will be no home team in the final. Sharing his views on the WTC summit clash being played at a neutral venue, Rohit said that it will be an exciting contest. He elaborated:

“It will be a different ball game for both teams. I don’t think England are going to qualify. Both teams who are going to qualify will be neutral teams. It’s going to be exciting. There’s no home advantage and no conditions advantage.

“India have played a lot of cricket in England over the last couple of years. Australia have played a lot of cricket. Sri Lanka and South Africa are also in the mix. It’s not going to be alien condition as such. It will be a good contest.”

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India reached the inaugural WTC final in 2021 but went down to New Zealand by eight wickets.