"They are going to look at their bat speed"- Sunil Gavaskar on adjustments India need to make ahead of WTC Final vs Australia
Former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar feels Team India need to make certain technical changes before facing Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) Final at The Oval beginning on June 7.
Since most of the players have joined the team straight from the IPL, Gavaskar reckons the batters will need to play the ball as late as possible. He feels they will need to adjust to the moving Dukes ball and that will happen if they play as late as possible.
Speaking exclusively to Star Sports on ‘Follow the Blues’, Sunil Gavaskar also spoke about what length do Team India's bowlers need to bowl in such conditions. He said:
“I think they are going to look at their bat speed. Coming from T20 where the bat speed is very fast to Test cricket where the bat speeds got to be a lot more control, that is something they’ll need to do. They’ll need to play in England as late as possible to allow for the swing to do it’s bit, not to reach out for the ball which often a lot of people make the mistake having played on good pitches.
"As a bowling unit also you’ll need to bowl a much fuller length for your new ball, for the bowlers to be able to get the movement in the air as well as after pitching.”
Sunil Gavaskar on the importance of warm-up games
Sunil Gavaskar feels Team India should have played 2-3 warm-up games ahead of the WTC final. He explained how the English conditions are tough for the players who come from the subcontinent and feels warm-up games could have helped India acclimatize better.
On this, Gavaskar stated:
“In these conditions the ball tends to swing in the air not just after pitching which doesn’t happen in India and therefore the swing in the air is what sometimes can take you some time to get used to and which is a reason people generally when you are going overseas suggest that you should may be play two or three warm-up matches, which will give you a better idea of what to get when you are playing in a test match.”
With just about a week between the IPL 2023 final and the WTC final, it will be interesting to see if the probable lack of preparation time affects India's performance.