Former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer has identified Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill as the two players who will be crucial to India’s success in the World Test Championship Final against Australia at the Oval. The former cricketer believes it will be a difficult task for the Indian openers to stop a quality Australian fast bowling unit in English conditions due to the substantial sideways movement available to seamers. Jaffer believes that Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins, with their speed and accuracy, will pose a significant threat to the Indian batters, particularly the openers, despite the absence of Josh Hazlewood in the final.
“Openers will play an enormous role. England is the most difficult country to bowl in due to the sideways movement. Because of the weather, conditions vary so drastically. It varies rapidly. The duke’s gala also presents numerous challenges. As the ball ages, it continues to swing and begins to reverse direction. It will be difficult with Starc and Cummins operating at 145 kilometers per hour,” Jaffer told the Indian Express.
The only cause for concern is that they have played so much Twenty20 cricket. Wasim Jaffer
Jaffer expressed concern regarding the dearth of practice matches in India’s preparation for the highly anticipated match. Following two months of T20 cricket, the former opener believes it may be difficult for a number of Indian players to adjust to the format of the upcoming match. Since the conclusion of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, none of the Indian batsmen have participated in any red-ball matches, with the exception of senior batsman Cheteshwar Pujara.
“Things are looking positive, but the only concern is that they have played so much Twenty20 cricket in the past two months, making it difficult for them to adjust fast with only four or five days of preparation and no match practice. Jaffer concluded, “I am confident that modern cricketers have mastered the ability to make this switch quickly.”
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