Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri believes that the Indian team can chase down the total in the final of World Test Championship final, as they have got experienced, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane batting in the middle. It would be a historic chase by the Indian team if they managed to upset the Baggy Greens in Kennington Oval, on Sunday.
Indian batting maestro Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane shifted the momentum in the favour of the Indian team after the back-to-back wickets, as they stitched an unbeaten partnership of 71-run stand for the fourth wicket of the game to keep their side in the hunt to chase down the total.
Speaking on Star Sports, Ravi Shastri feels that chasing a target on the final day would be a possibility as strange things can happen, as it would world record chase in the longer format of the game and also feels that the Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara would regret about their shot selection in the 2nd innings, as they threw wicket away after being set in the middle
“It’s very much a possibility. This game throws up strange things; we have seen strange things happen in this game. It’s going to take a world record chase. What has amazed me is the way that the pitch has played. Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara will be kicking themselves for throwing the wicket away when they were batting well,” Ravi Shastri told Star Sports.
“The pitch has eased out, the sting was gone, at least for today, which made batting a lot easier. The way Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane batted they have been in no trouble. The fluency is there, they have scored pretty freely.
The Indian batters looked well settled in the middle, as they will look to take it hour by hour going into the final day, as they need to be well supported by Ravindra Jadeja, KS Bharat, and Shardul Thakur to chase down this uphill total on the last day of the ultimate match.
Treat The Bowling On Merit, Take It One Session At A Time – Ravi Shastri
Ravi Shastri believes that the first session will be crucial for the Indian team in the record chase in Kennington, Oval and as the surface would offer something for the Australian bowlers in the first hour of the game and asked the Indian team to play normal cricket, as he wants the Indian batter to play on the merit of the game.
“Now it’s a case of coming out tomorrow and weathering the storm in the first session of play. That’s the session for me. If there is any sting on that surface, it will be in that first hour till the effect of the roller dies out”.
“I think it would be to play normal cricket. Treat the bowling on merit. Don’t set yourself any big targets. Take it one session at a time. Don’t think about what is going to happen at the end of it. Play normal cricket. Both these guys are stroke players,” Ravi Shastri added.
Australian bowlers were indisciplined with their line and length, as they could not execute their plans against the Indian batters on the fourth day, as they will make a comeback on the 1st session of the final day and their spinner Nathan Lyon is expected to play a key role for his team on the final day.