BCCI prez Roger Binny on India’s discomfiting defeat in WTC final at Oval on Sunday

BCCI prez Roger Binny on India’s discomfiting defeat in WTC final at Oval on Sunday

Senior Cricketer and BCCI President Roger Bunny following India’s discomfiting defeat at the Oval on Sunday opines that the impact of Travis Head and Steve Smith’s centuries were such that India kept doing the catching up game for the rest of the Test.

Team India faced a humiliating defeat by 209-run in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia. The Indian unit exhibited a poor show in both the departments as Australia took control of the proceedings from the opening day itself.

Australia got off to a slow start and lost Usman Khawaja early but their innings got stabalised following a crucial stand amidst David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne. But, it was the twin centuries by
Steve Smith and Travis Head in the first inning, which pained India the most.

Head went on to score 168 runs off merely 174 deliveries at a brisk pace and on the other hand, Smith was comparatively slow but his 121-run knock drove Australia to pile up 469/10 in the first innings.

The Indian batters failed to put up a fight and thanks to Ajinkya Rahane, who was making a comeback to the Test side, and some healthy contributions from Shardul Thakur and Ravindra Jadeja, India managed to save the follow-on.

However, the impact of the centuries were such that India kept doing the catching up game for the rest of the Test.

Sharing his views on India’s loss, BCCI president Roger Binny also highlighted the knocks by Smith and Head as the difference amidst thetwo sides.

Binny went on to add that India lost the game on the first day itself. The big partnership that Australia put on was what really turned the tables in this game. Otherwise, the game was even. If you take away that partnership, the game was totally even.

Besides the scintillating show by Head and Smith, Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc rubbed salt to India’s wounds in the second innings. The tailender along with Carey added 93 runs for the seventh wicket, which helped Australia impose 444-run target for India.

The Indian second innings got folded for 234, with seven wickets falling in the opening session of Day 5.

Binny, however, urged the unit to remain optimistic and focus on the ODI World Cup, which is scheduled to be played in October-November this year.

Binny further added that we have something bigger coming up in the future so need to keep our spirits up ensuring that we fare well in the World Cup and it’s at home. So that is important.

News input KV Raman