"Indian team reached England very late"- Harbhajan Singh analyzes India's defeat against Australia in WTC Final 2023

Harbhajan Singh analyzed India's loss against Australia in the recently-concluded World Test Championship Final. The former Indian cricketer pointed out two big errors India made which impacted the final result.

Speaking on his YouTube channel after India's defeat in WTC Final 2023, Harbhajan Singh pointed out how Australia gave priority to the big game and earned the reward. He felt that the Aussies gave more importance to WTC by skipping IPL 2023.

While a majority of the Australian Test squad members were at home or playing county cricket, 14 out of 15 Indian squad members were playing in IPL 2023 until the last week of May.

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"Australia started their preparations long time back. Quite a few Australian players did not play in the IPL. Many players preferred WTC Final over IPL. Indian team reached England very late," Harbhajan said.

"I felt that India's preparation was not upto the mark"- Harbhajan Singh comments on India's shortcomings on Day 1

India conceded 327 runs on Day 1 after opting to bowl first on a green pitch in London. Harbhajan Singh opined that the bowling could have been much better, especially against Travis Head, who scored 163 runs.

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"India could not make much of an impact on Day 1 even though there was so much grass on the pitch. Yes, India did reduce Australia to 72/3, but after that, Travis Head's inning became a headache for India," Singh added.

"Steve Smith also scored a hundred, but you expect him to score big. He is a proven match-winner, but Travis Head scored 163. I felt that India's preparation was not upto the mark," he concluded.

Travis Head and Steve Smith's centuries in the first innings of the match proved to be the difference-maker in the WTC Final 2023 as Australia beat India by 209 runs.

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