London: Former head coach Ravi Shastri has said that India captain Rohit Sharma and senior batter Cheteshwar Pujara would be kicking themselves for the way they got out on the fourth day of the ongoing World Test Championship final against Australia, here.
Chasing a mammoth total for victory, India’s chances of chasing down the highest-ever target to win a Test would have been greatly enhanced had their captain got a big score at the top of the order. And Rohit looked in the mood too as helped India score at a rapid rate at the start of the fourth innings before Nathan Lyon made the crucial breakthrough.
Rohit was trapped by Nathan Lyon in front of the stumps when he decided to play a sweep shot. Very soon, Cheteshwar Pujara’s untimely upper-cut ended up in a faint edge back to the keeper.
“You know what’s amazed me though is the way that the pitch has behaved. Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara will be kicking themselves for playing the shots that they played. They were poor shots when they were batting beautifully,” Shastri said after the match.
However, Shastri had the confidence that India were still in the game and they have the ability to chase down 280 runs on the final day of the Test match.
“Very much a possibility. This game shows us strange things. It has to be a world record chase,” the former head coach said.
The 61-year-old also feels that India need to survive in the first hour of play when the ball would be seaming. For India, two veteran batters — Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane — are at the crease and the team would be hoping big from them.
“The pitch has eased out, the sting is gone, and it made batting a lot easier. Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane have been in no trouble whatsoever. They have batted beautifully and scored quite easily. It is about coming out tomorrow and weathering the storm in the first hour, that will be crucial for me,” Shastri concluded.
IANS
