"It was not about pressure" - Rahul Dravid discloses why India opted to field first in WTC Final 2023
Indian head coach Rahul Dravid has explained the reason behind choosing to field first in the ICC World Test Championship Final match against Australia. Dravid felt that it was better to bowl first because of the overcast conditions on the first day of the Test match.
Speaking with Sourav Ganguly on Star Sports after Australia defeated India in the WTC Final 2023, Dravid disclosed the thought process behind opting to bowl first.
Ganguly pointed out that when Dravid was the captain of Team India, he would prefer batting first because he did not want his team to be under pressure of chasing a target on Day 5.
India suffered an embarrassing collapse against Australia on Day 5 in the WTC Final 2023, leading to a big defeat. This situation could have been avoided had India batted first. Explaining why India bowled first, Dravid said:
"It was not about 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. 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."
"We could have chased down 300-320"- Rahul Dravid thinks India gave away too many runs in first innings of WTC Final 2023
During the same chat, Rahul Dravid further mentioned that India had the upper hand in the Test when Australia were down to 70/3 in the first innings. Travis Head and Steve Smith's hundreds, however, took the game away from India.
Dravid opined that India leaked too many runs in the second and third sessions of the opening day.
"We could have chased down 300-320 in the final innings of the game," he concluded.
India coach #RahulDravid answers some tough questions from #SouravGanguly after #WTCFinal defeat.
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Team India will be away from international cricket for a month now. They will return to the field in July in West Indies for two Tests, three ODIs, and five T20Is against the Caribbean outfit.